Apocryphal Reality
by Konpeitou
Summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren’t what people have always believed? Now it’s Quatre’s turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.
1. Duo: Prologue

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

Pairings: Eventual 2x1, possible 3x4 … and maybe a little others on the side XD

Disclaimer: If I owned it, would I need to write fanfiction? Obviously not. Also, this has homosexual as well as religious themes. If you can't handle either, please don't read. Flames will simply be laughed at

konpeitou: Right, so this is a story I actually started a long time ago. I got about half-way through it when I hit a massive case of writer's block and abandoned it for a long while. I've recently been working on it again. The thing is, contrary to my usual habit of only uploading stories I've finished, I'm not actually done with this one yet. I figure I'm far enough along that if I can get reviews and keep up the motivation I should be able to finish it before I catch up to my writing. So far I've already got around 17 chapters completed.

So, I give this to you in hopes that you will enjoy it, and if you would be so kind as to review it will greatly fuel my lazy muse.

**Apocryphal Reality: Prologue**

The area was rather dark and desolate, radiating emptiness despite what lie within. It was small yet never-ending all at once, giving one the illusion that they could walk forever and never reach the end. There were no walls, but instead it seemed as if one was surrounded by perpetual midnight, the northern lights shining for eternity amidst the darkness. An indigo beach spread on continuously to the side, silent waves like liquid mercury lapping at the dark shores. To the other side, as though taunting the waves, were lines of twisted parodies of trees; slender curving trunks the color of charcoal with cobalt-violet leaves as flowing as silk and as sharp as razor blades. A few fireflies wove themselves about lazily through the trees, briefly illuminating and adding to their haunting aura. The only sound to be heard in the area was the unseen sound of crystal wind chimes.

For an instant, the air seemed to ripple and the slim figure appeared on the beach, the waves washing up to greet it but falling short, rolling back in disappointment. The figure raised its arms above its head and stretched luxuriously, simultaneously spreading large leathery wings the color of obsidian, so dark they seemed to absorb light itself. With a sigh, the newcomer turned and moved slowly towards the stand of trees, which seemed to shiver in anticipation and welcome.

A few fireflies came out and hovered before the form, illuminating a pair of deep cobalt eyes set in a pale, heart-shaped face that was framed by wisps of honey-colored chestnut hair. A few more flew in quick circles around the figure's body, shedding enough light to show that the figure, although slender, was definitely male, before flying off again to play amongst the trees. With a small, tired smile, the boy lurched forward a few more steps and collapsed into the gentle embrace of a hammock, strong as steel but as thin and soft as ebon spider's silk.

"Ninmu kanryou," he muttered as he gave himself over to a much-needed nap.

* * *

The first thing he became aware of was something insistently prodding his left wing. The second thing was a familiar chipper voice calling his name repeatedly and demanding he wake up. Now.

Groaning, the boy turned his head and cracked one eye open to stare at the little demon girl that was now attempting to use a stick to prod him awake. With an annoyed flick of his wing he knocked the obnoxious hand away.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," he grumbled, rolling back to his side so that he was now facing her.

"Duo Duo! G'mooooorning!" the young girl chirped, practically bouncing in place. Duo refrained from pointing out that in his little niche, there was no such thing as morning; after all, he had told her before and it never seemed to make much difference.

"Oi, whaddya want Munchkin?"

The little demon puffed up her cheeks in annoyance at the nickname. "Don't call me Munchkin!"

"Whatever, Munchkin," Duo replied offhandedly and was rewarded with another show of chipmunk-cheeks from the girl. It was just too much fun to tease her, but Duo decided to be a little nice this time and let her off easy. "Fine fine, what do you need Ariel?"

Remembering now, she pulled out a rolled up strip of parchment. "You have another assignment," she informed him cheerfully.

Duo groaned and sat up straight in the hammock. "Again? But I just got back! I'm supposed to have a little bit of vacation after successful missions."

"Uhh, yeah. But…" the demon shifted nervously and Duo raised a slender eyebrow in amusement. "Master Lucifer specifically wanted you on this one… he even said that you can make up this missed time off next time."

The slender boy blinked repeatedly in surprise. Lucifer… was making a deal? With a subordinate? "Must be one hell of a case. What's so important about this one, anyway?" he wondered absent-mindedly, taking the parchment from the girl, who smiled secretively and leaned in closer.

"Wanna know what I heard, Duo?" she whispered. Curiosity piqued, Duo nodded. "Seems like it isn't so much the case that Master Lucifer is concerned about, but the angel running the Trial. 'Guess he's a real strange one or something," Ariel abruptly pulled back and grinned. "But you didn't hear it from me. Good luck Duo!" With a little wave, she disappeared from Duo's personal niche.

Alone again, the slender boy flopped back onto his hammock and began leafing through the assignment sheets. "Quatre Raberba Winner, 17 years old, youngest and only male in a family of… whoa! 29! Wow, that's a lot of sisters… poor guy. Hmm, due to begin Angel Trials yada yada…" Duo sighed and dropped the sheets onto the dark sand. "Doesn't really seem to be anything special about this one. Quatre… why does that name sound familiar? Oh well, nap time!" Dismissing it all, Duo promptly turned his attention to getting back to his interrupted sleep.

* * *

"This must be the place," Duo said to no one in particular, staring down at the rather large estate and whistling in surprise. "Nice place," he admitted as he Shifted, disappearing from the air and reappearing inside the boy's room. The room was empty, but the lights were on and a book was open on the large oak desk. Duo walked over and read a little bit. "'War and Peace'? And the kid's halfway through the book already! Man, doesn't he have a _life_?"

"For now, yes." a voice answered his rhetorical question, strong and somewhat deep.

Duo turned in surprise to see his competition for the Trial, a young angel about his own age but otherwise an almost polar opposite to the dark devil. The angel was dressed simply in jeans and a white tank top, his uniform white feathered wings folded precisely against his slender back. His hair was short and stood out in unruly spikes, as opposed to Duo's own tidy mane, and the devil couldn't seem to figure out if the cropped locks were dark brown or moss green. His eyes were also blue, but a darker prussian rather than his own cobalt, and Duo shivered in a mixture of pleasure and excitement at the look of power in those dark orbs. Propping one of his arms on his hip, he couldn't help but smile appreciably.

"But then, that's why we're both here, isn't it."

* * *

konpeitou: Short chapter, I know and I apologize. I'd blame it on the fact it's a prologue, but I think the first few chapters are rather short. I will endeavor to make this up by updating sooner following short chapters so there is less wait for more Please read and review, it would do much for my faltering muse and I would like to know what people think. Thank you! 


	2. Heero: A Brief Encounter

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: I apologize now that this is another short chapter, thus I'll have the next up soon. This story works with the theme of alternating POVs each chapter, which is why I didn't expand this chapter further. Please bear with me, I promise they get longer.

**Apocryphal Reality: A Brief Encounter**

The solitary angel stood staring down below a feathery wisp of cloud, not really thinking of anything but rather just enjoying the moment of peace.

"Another mission?" asked a familiar voice from behind him, and the angel turned to see his often-times partner, and somewhat friend, Wufei coming up to stand beside him.

"Aa," he replied. The other nodded and they lapsed into silence. At length, the ebon-haired angel spoke again.

"It's our duty to dispense justice to each soul. Saa, the sooner you start the sooner the Trial will be over."

"Aa," the quiet angel agreed, and without preamble leapt off the wispy cloud and soared through the air for a few moments before Shifting to Earth. In moments he was at his destination, a nice large but humble estate, and flew a few circuits around the area. Satisfied, he flew again until he found the proper window and Shifted himself inside. He landed quietly near the closet, and while folding his wings was somewhat surprised to hear a voice speak.

He looked around and spotted a slender figure bent over a desk opposite the room. It was not his case, but judging by the set of large black leathery wings, his opponent. He was no little bit surprised and even mildly impressed to find that the devil had beaten him to the case, but it was no matter. The devil was slim and had a long chestnut braid with honey highlights and ribbons woven into the locks, so he assumed that it was a female. When the devil spoke again, he realized that it had been talking to itself, and not him, but he still couldn't resist answering.

"For now, yes." He was rather amused by how the devil turned in surprise, having not realized his presence. _Pathetic. This Trial should be easy._ He was likewise surprised, though, to find that the devil was most definitely a _he_. He was dressed in tight black leather pants that rode on his hips and an indigo mock turtleneck tank that hugged his torso like a second skin and left his shoulders and midriff exposed.

He could feel the devil appraising him as well, and when he rested a hand on his hip and grinned, the angel felt a tad uncomfortable, though he didn't allow it to show. Instead, he looked for something to say.

"But then, that's why we're both here, isn't it." It wasn't so much a question as a statement.

The devil actually laughed, amused. "Exactly. The Trial must go on, ne?"

The angel frowned ever so slightly. "Isn't that supposed to be 'the show must go on'?"

The other paused for a moment and grinned again, shrugging it off. "Technicalities, technicalities." He watched the devil spin in place a few times before stopping and looking at him again. "Duo." He said suddenly.

"Nani?" he asked, confused. The devil tilted his head to the side, seemingly amused.

"Don't ask for a name without giving your own first, right? I'm Duo."

"…Heero." He answered at length, winning a smile from Duo. Heero watched him pace around the room a few more times and hop up onto the windowsill. "You're… a very strange devil."

"Eh?" Duo blinked, surprised.

"I've never met a devil that wanted to know my name before," he explained, tilting his own head as he contemplated the slim devil.

Duo grinned at the angel cheerfully. "I'll take that as a compliment then."

"If you wish." Heero shrugged. "The Trial begins tomorrow." And with that, he Shifted back to Heaven, for once not really wanting to stay around the case until the Trial began.

* * *

konpeitou: Very brief, I know. I'll have the next one up soon to make up for it. Sowwy. 


	3. Duo: Unfortunate Circumstances

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: posted quickly, as promised. Beginnings are always a slow start so I figure it's easiest to get a jump on it anyway, no? Besides, I'm getting married in the morning so I may not have time to think about it tomorrow. I hope you enjoy

**Apocryphal Reality: Unfortunate Circumstances**

Duo opened his mouth to remark, but the angel had already gone. Closing his mouth, he smiled and turned on the sill so that he was looking out at the night sky. "You're an odd angel yourself, Heero," he murmured quietly, then felt himself grinning again. "And cute too! A very nice piece of eye candy. This Trial may be pretty fun after all."

His wandering thoughts were interrupted by what could only be the voice of Quatre coming up to his room. He was right, and soon a young blond entered the room, shuffling about as he put a few things in order before bed. Duo was amused by the kid's antics and watched him move about. After finally deciding things were in order the kid got ready for sleep and climbed into bed, reaching over to turn out the last light on his nightstand. He hesitated, his arm going instead to open the drawer of the nightstand and pull out a small thin object and caressing it gently with his other hand. After a moment, without putting the thing away, he closed the drawer and turned out the light, clutching the object protectively as he drifted to sleep.

Duo was definitely curious now, and he moved over to try to get a look at what Quatre was holding. After a moment he realized it was some sort of picture, and it took a bit longer to get a good view of the picture. The devil blinked several times and stood up straight, taking a few steps back. "This… this is _not_ good. Shimatta." As abruptly as he arrived, Duo Shifted back to Hell. There was someone he needed to talk to, and now.

* * *

Immediately upon returning to Hell Duo was in his own little niche, but he didn't spend more than a moment there, instead launching himself out in search of another little niche. Hell wasn't so much connected physically as by thought, so Duo focused on where he wanted to be as he flew somewhat frantically over the domains of Hell. 

_Dammit! I knew that name sounded familiar, I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner! Ah man, how the hell am I supposed to deal with this?!_ Fortunately, and perhaps unfortunately, he soon arrived at his destination.

What looked like nothing so much as a very large birdcage loomed in front of him and Duo carefully sailed through the thick 'bars' of rose vines. He landed carefully at the bottom and took a few moments to get his breath back as he walked towards the middle. This niche was very odd, despite the fact that it was shaped like a birdcage. The bottom was lined like a park or forest, lush grass and slender trees with a small stream winding its way through. But the odd thing was that everything was perfectly divided. If you stood on one side of the cage, the tree trunks would appear navy blue and the grass and leaves a deep jade, while from the other side the trunks would seem to be a pinkish yellow color and the leaves and grass a soft aqua green. From the other two sides, well, it just looked very divided. The stream itself looked like flowing flakes of crystal.

After calming himself down a bit, though still having no idea what he was going to do, Duo came to where his friend sat, perched high above him on a rather large bird swing hanging from the top of the cage.

"Oi oi! Don't even say hello to an old friend? I see how it is then." Duo mock pouted, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Duo," the other said simply, then leapt off the swing and used his wings to land beside his friend.

"Hey Trowa, what's up?" Duo asked, seemingly forgiving the other boy.

"Until a moment ago, me." Trowa answered flatly, expecting some sort of retort from the braided boy, but instead Duo merely offered a weak grin and plopped himself down on the grass. "Duo, what's wrong?"

Duo fiddled with the grass at his sides, trying to figure out what to do. "I… got a new assignment."

"I thought you just returned from a successful assignment."

"Yeah, I did… but I still have another assignment–"

"And you're upset about your vacation time." Trowa concluded.

"Yeah! I mean, no. Well, yeah I'm upset about it but that's not what's bothering me." Duo huffed out a breath of air. This was not going well.

Trowa merely raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Look, it's… hard to explain. Can you just come with me?"

"But–"

"Can you?" he pressed. Trowa nodded and Duo immediately dragged him off. Thankfully, Trowa didn't press him to explain as they went back to Earth. The tall youth paused for a moment as they reached the town, and Duo felt a pang of guilt in his heart again.

"Duo, what–"

But the longhaired devil didn't give him a chance to complete the question as he instructed him to follow his Shift to the place. Confused, Trowa did as he was told.

When they finally arrived, Trowa looked around for his friend, not really paying much attention to the room they were in. "Duo, what's going on?"

Duo didn't answer and instead walked across the room to where a bed and its sleeping occupant lie and signaled him over. Trowa followed him and he stepped out of the way so that the boy could get a good look. His jade eyes widened visibly and he turned sharply to face Duo.

"I don't understand. What–" Trowa began, but Duo cut him off, perching himself on the windowsill and refusing to meet his gaze.

"He's my assignment. Quatre starts the Angel Trial tomorrow." Duo told him, staring glumly at his knees, unable to bring himself to look up and see the pain he knew his friend must be feeling. _I'm sorry Trowa. I'm so, so sorry._

* * *

The hours until morning passed like a blur to Duo, a semiconscious passage of time marked by rotating feelings of guilt and sorrow as he sat on the windowsill. Once again, he glanced over at his friend and could've sworn that the boy hadn't moved in the last two hours. Some of Duo's taste in fashion had obviously rubbed off on Trowa during their time together in Hell, though not entirely. The other boy was dressed in a pair of semi-loose dark carpenter jeans, a sleek black turtleneck and an open button-down white silk shirt over it that seemed to ripple pale blue and green when he moved. Trowa's wings were also leathery and bat-like similar to his friend's, but colored dark jade instead of black, beautifully accentuating his eyes. He looked like some sort of guardian angel, Duo mused, standing silent sentry over the sleeping mortal boy. Not that silence was unusual from the lanky devil, but this time it seemed thick and heavy. Taking a breath, Duo opened his mouth to say something, _anything_, but the words that finally shattered the pregnant silence were not his own. 

"Duo, promise me something?" Trowa said softly, voice barely above a whisper. Duo blinked a few times before responding, voice similarly quiet.

"What is it?"

The spike-banged boy was silent for so long Duo began to wonder if he was going to continue, but at length he continued in a hushed tone, reaching out to pass his fingers by the tousled golden bangs of the sleeping youth affectionately. "Don't let him fall. Please, Duo, don't let Quatre fall." Though the tones were flat, the braided devil knew the boy well enough to hear the slight edge of pain sharpening his voice.

"I…" Duo hesitated, unsure, then sighed. "I'll try, Trowa. I'll do everything I can to keep him from falling. I can't promise anything more than that, I'm sorry." And he was, he felt unreasonably guilty and wished that he could just tell Trowa that everything would be all right, but he couldn't lie, he _wouldn't_ lie! Especially not to him, his best friend.

"I know," Trowa assured him, not sounding angry in the least at the lack of concrete promise. His eyes softened as he watched the boy sleep, then he turned to the boy resting on the windowsill. "Thank you."

The two stared at each other, the silence stretching like an elastic band until the cobalt-eyed boy couldn't take it anymore. "Trowa–" but whatever he was going to say, which Duo hadn't been too sure about anyway, was cut off by the abrupt entrance of none other than Heero. For an instant, the braided devil panicked and looked back towards the bed, but the other devil was nowhere in sight. Heaving a purely mental sigh of relief, Duo pulled up a cheeky grin as he turned back to the angel. "Ohayo!" he greeted cheerfully.

Heero just stared at him for a moment, gaze somewhat cold and analytical. Nervous under scrutiny, Duo blinked a few times and began to shift his weight self-consciously. The angel let out a small breath, "Ohayo gozaimasu," he replied blankly.

Duo perked up at the bland, but not unfriendly, greeting. Putting all thoughts about his devil friend out of mind, he reverted back to his usual cheerful demeanor and prepared for work. _And besides_, he thought to himself wickedly, _I get the feeling that this angel will be very fun to play with_.

* * *

konpeitou: slightly longer I guess. Please review?  



	4. Heero: Match Set

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Still short, I think I'm not as good at writing Heero's side XD; Next chapter is much longer, promise!

**Apocryphal Reality: Match Set**

Heero found it rather strange how the opposing devil brightened from nothing so much more than a simple greeting. It wasn't like he had forfeited or anything, so why would he suddenly become so _happy_? Mentally shaking his head, Heero dismissed it from his mind, concluding that it was just a very odd devil he was competing against in this Trial.

He became even surer of that conclusion as the braided boy all but bounced cheerfully, talking all the while about useless things and jumping topics as quick as thought. Did the boy even think before he spoke? Judging by the rapid pace in which he was chattering, not likely. Determining that nothing the devil was saying was of any real consequence, Heero tuned the boy out and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at the bed in which the small mortal slept, waiting for him to wake up.

Suddenly, without him even realizing it, Duo was sidled up next to him, an amused smirk playing across his lips. He leaned one shoulder against the wall but still faced him. Heero barely flicked a mildly surprised glance at the boy before continuing to watch the sleeping kid. "So I guess you're the strong, silent angel type, ne?"

"Hn." The angel grunted back. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the sleeping form; god, was he _ever_ going to wake up?

If anything, Duo's smirk widened at the empty response and he leaned fully against the wall, looking at nothing in particular. "Hm, that's okay though. Definitely an improvement over the last angel I was up against. Hell, _anything_ would be an improvement over that, couldn't get any worse, y'know? That girl talked a lot, always bragging about herself or some naïve little notion she had in her head at the time. Geez, and vain! Man, I didn't think you angels knew how to be vain, but she sure did. I mean, I'd swear she thought she was the queen of the three worlds! That had to be one of the worst Trials ever, dealing with an angel like her. Heh, definitely an improvement if you ask me. At least this time – oh hey, Quatre's waking up!"

Heero sighed mentally in relief as the blond youth propped himself up on an elbow in bed, blinking and rubbing his eyes sleepily. Abruptly the boy's arm snaked out and shut off the alarm just as it began, stopping the obnoxious blaring before it could finish getting started. The angel glanced over at Duo for a brief second, still babbling uselessly, and wished it were as easy to turn off _his_ obnoxious blaring. Quatre slumped back into bed, pressing a palm to his head.

"Itai… uhhn, I have a headache…" the boy muttered, pulling aside the plush teal comforter and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He stood, stretching languidly like a cat and covering a broad yawn with his slender hand as he made his way across the room to the redwood dresser. After sifting through a few drawers, the blond collected some clothes and headed into his room's personal bathroom with another yawn. Within moments, the muffled sound of running water escaped the closed door.

"Ugh," Duo sighed, and Heero looked over to see the devil flop himself back on the bed. "Beginnings of Trials are so dull…"

"You don't have to be here," Heero pointed out, and was rewarded with the devil bolting upright and bristling defensively.

"Che, and let an _angel_ stay here alone with that kid? Yeah right! What kinda devil do ya take me for, anyway? Pfft, leave you here, like I'd ever allow that to happen. I mean–" at this point Duo had basically fallen into intelligible mumbling as he scowled at the bedspread. Heero ignored him, again, and moved to the window to stare past the panes at the clear morning sky, partially blocked by the thick foliage of the oak tree outside the window.

Even through the glass and over the distorted sound of rushing water, the early morning birdsong still rang clear and distinct, happily inviting all who listened to behold the joyous wonder they felt at the new day. There was a time when he used to hate those cheerful sounds, always disrupting his concentration and just plain being a nuisance, and he never would have imagined that he'd one day come to miss them.

When he still lived, he never would have imagined that Heaven would be so dull.

"Beautiful," a soft voice murmured near his shoulder, causing the startled angel to stiffen reflexively. When he turned, Duo was standing beside and slightly behind his left shoulder, also staring out the window, a small smile gracing his lips. "There's just something inherently beautiful about mornings, isn't there?" he continued, cobalt eyes flicking briefly to follow the quick flight of a bird to the upper branches of the oak.

"Aa," Heero agreed, a soft exhalation of breath, and turned back to the window as well to watch the ever-shifting rays of light through the wind-tossed leaves. The corners of his lips curled in a slight frown, realizing that yet again the devil had managed to sneak up on him without his notice. Duo didn't move and stood watching the morning as well.

Annoyed by such close physical proximity to himself, Heero pushed away from the window and casually stalked across room to lean back against the strip of wall between the closet doors and the niche housing the bedroom's door, arms crossing over his chest. He could feel the devil watching him as he crossed, and when he settled back he wasn't very surprised to see that Duo had also turned, resting his hips against the sill, arms propping him up slightly. Shoulders hunched a bit by the position, the slim black top the devil wore rode a little higher up his waist, exposing a wider strip of pale flesh. Heero flicked his eyes away abruptly to stare at the bathroom door, wondering if the devil had any modesty.

"Impatient, aren't you?" Duo said suddenly, and Heero could feel the amused smirk in his voice, which for some reason annoyed him, so he didn't even acknowledge the question with a flick of his eyes, let alone a response. Somehow, though, he could still feel the devil smirking even more.


	5. Duo: Game Start

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Finally a long chapter, though probably one of my longest. Fast update because even I got tired of the short chapters and wanted something long up. XD;

**Apocryphal Reality: Game Start**

He was grinning, and he knew it. He just couldn't help himself; the angel was just too much fun! Granted, he had slipped up with that 'beautiful' remark; he hadn't meant to say it, but it just slipped out while he was admiring the lean features in the morning light. But it had seemed to startle, or at least annoy, the angel, so Duo supposed it all worked out for the best anyhow. His grin widened slightly. Oh, he had known quite well that his shift in position would show just a bit more skin, and he was also well aware that he was considered exquisitely attractive by most women and many men. His action had had the desired effect, and his mirth only continued to rise when Heero turned away modestly. Duo decided to play along.

"Impatient, aren't you?" he asked, shifting slightly against the windowsill to relieve some pressure to his right wing. Heero gave no response, not even a contemptuous snort. The devil struggled to retain the laugh that suddenly began bubbling up his throat. How utterly delightful! He could almost manage to forget how tired he was from the last assignment and his annoyance at having been denied his time off while teasing this particular angel.

Duo was just thinking of something else to say when the bathroom door opened abruptly, letting forth a wide burst of hot steam into the cooled room, followed quickly by the slender figure of Quatre. He was dressed in semi-loose grey jeans and his blond locks dripped water on the ice blue button-down shirt hanging open over his shoulders. The boy began quickly hurrying about the room, straightening his bed, putting on socks and buttoning his shirt, putting on a silver watch, and stuffing his homework and the books he would need for the day in his satchel. He was just slinging the strap over his shoulder when a woman's voice called to him from downstairs.

"Coming!" Quatre called brightly, bounding past Heero on his way out the door, the rapid pounding of footfalls evidence of his decent down the stairs.

The silent angel pushed himself away from the wall, turning to head out the door. Duo grinned as he launched away from the windowsill, giving himself a quick running start and as he caught up to Heero at the edge of the stairs, spread his wings a bit and glided down ahead of the angel, unable to resist a sideways grin as he passed. He bounced in place as he landed near the bottom, adjusting his wings to find balance before folding them carefully against his back once more. The dark devil immediately turned off in the direction of the voices emanating from the kitchen.

"Catherine and I are going out today after class, so I'll be a little late home," the woman's voice was saying, "There's stuff here to make for lunch and I'll be home in time for dinner. If you need anything, you know to just call me, right?"

"Yes, Iria, I know," Quatre replied patiently, just as Duo rounded the corner to see the boy sitting on a stool at the counter eating breakfast of eggs and toast with a glass of orange juice. Heero came up behind him shortly after. The two lapsed into silence for several minutes after that, during which time Quatre continued to eat his breakfast and Iria scrawled some notes in a notebook.

"Oh no! I'm going to be late!" Quatre called out suddenly after checking his watch, leaping up and carrying his plate to the sink to rinse off. "I have to go 'nee-san, I'll see you when you get home, okay? Tell Catherine I said hello, and have fun!" He called the last as he was hurrying down the hall towards the door, followed closely by Duo and Heero as he adjusted the strap of his satchel across his shoulder.

"Have a good day, Quatre!" Iria called faintly as he left, skipping out to the sidewalk before slowing back down to a more sedate pace.

Duo walked a few feet behind him, too lazy to bother flying when the boy was walking at a normal pace. He laced his fingers behind his head and sighed. "If he's late, why doesn't he just drive? He has his license and his dad's rich enough that I doubt that he doesn't have a car of his own." He was only talking to himself, of course, not really expecting an answer from his fellow unnoticed stalker; which was a good thing, since Heero didn't seem inclined to speak unless directly spoken to or asked a question, and Duo wondered if he'd answer even then. He flicked his eyes over to said angel, walking a small distance beside him with his hands in his pockets and an unreadable expression on his dark face.

He really was beautiful, he had to admit. Perfect lightly tanned skin, deep blue eyes like ocean depths under a full moon, a lean slender body with finely honed muscles that weren't appallingly bulky, but yet were obviously strong and added to the quiet air of power around him. Everything about the silent angel just seemed to radiate gorgeousness.

Duo tugged lightly on his hair, mentally berating himself for such thoughts. Granted, the boy was kawaii, but he had a job to do and the stakes were even higher than usual. You'd think dieing would eliminate your hormones, but no. No matter what you're forever doomed to the annoyances of lust and attraction, and it didn't help that he died as a teenager so he was forever doomed to the annoyances of lust and attraction of an adolescent boy. He tugged at his scalp again, trying to force his thoughts on a different path.

Man, he so needed that vacation.

* * *

That day was predictably boring, seeing as how Quatre was a high school student. The kid was a natural ace in everything, prefect grades in every subject and seemingly enjoying the classes. It amazed Duo that anyone could enjoy school, let alone every subject the pathetic excuse for a school system demanded be taken. He could almost swear the blonde was superhuman or something. Duo kept himself occupied – and awake – during the school hours by looking at cute guys or girls and braiding, unbraiding, and re-braiding his hair over and over until he feared damaging the silken strands. 

Surprisingly, though, the first test came to Quatre before he would have expected. That very day, after the final bell had rung and the innocent youth cheerfully bid his friends goodbye before starting his trek home, a group of older boys separated themselves from the attentions of three sophomore girls and crossed the street towards the blonde boy, accompanied by a likewise upperclassman girl. Duo found himself frowning slightly as Quatre increased his pace slightly and turned down a street that he hadn't taken on the way to school, and Duo felt sure wasn't a shortcut.

"Hey! Winner-kun," one of them called, laughing slightly, "Wait up, will ya?"

Quatre's eyes flicked once to the side and he hunched his shoulders, clutching the bag's strap, but he did not stop or even slow down.

Duo was curious now. He looked back at the group of boys, wondering what made the kid so nervous. They didn't really look at that imposing, in his opinion. The two guardians darted out of the way as the boys finally gave in and raced up to stop Quatre, moving to stand around him, subsequently blocking any way to escape. Quatre sighed, giving up, and faced who seemed to be the unspoken leader.

"What do you want, Sonari-kun?" he asked plainly.

The other boy just smiled innocently at him. "Not me, Yuuko here just wanted to talk to you. Right Yuuko-chan?" The girl took a few steps closer and cocked her hip to the side with one hand on it while she grinned.

Quatre rolled his eyes at the others. "And them? Do you guys also want something from me or are you merely unable to detach yourselves from his side?" The boys glowered and mumbled incoherently. He turned to address Sonari again while keeping his gaze fixed on the solitary girl in the group. "Sorry, I'm not interested in becoming your girlfriend's plaything. I suggest you learn to handle her yourself. Now, if you don't mind I really do have to get home." He started forward, with the obvious intention of walking away from them all, but the boys wouldn't move – granted, they didn't exactly seem like they were trying to block his way, but they obviously we're getting out of it either. Yuuko stepped into his path and stopped him with a manicured hand against his chest.

"Risuda-kun," Quatre began impatiently, brushing her hand off and trying to step away, but yelped reflexively when he was suddenly jerked back by a hand on his shoulder until he was being held up against Sonari's broader chest. "Sonari­­–" he began again, by the boy's voice by his ear silenced him.

"Come now, Winner-kun. Is that any way to treat a lady?"

Duo hissed, unaccountably angry that someone as innocent as Quatre was getting bullied, and worse that he wasn't fighting back.

Quatre struggled against him. "That's a point to be debated!" he grumbled, angering Sonari as well as Yuuko, who stepped up quickly and slapped him across the face. She then tsk'd as she laid her palm more gently across the rapidly reddening flesh.

"Why are you so mean to me, Quatre-kun?" she crooned, stepping up until her moderate chest was pressed against him and the length of her body was aligned with his. "Can't we just be… friends?" Quatre just glared and jerked his head to the side, away from her grasp.

"You should be more respectful to those who are older than you, Winner-_kun_." Sonari grated out, tightening his grip on the blonde's arms and shaking him slightly for emphasis.

"Oi, man… maybe you should calm down, ne?" one of the other murmured hesitantly, but shrank back after being glared at.

"Tohma's right, maybe you should lighten up a bit," another continued, bolder than the first.

"No! I'm sick of him acting like he's better than the rest of us!"

The others muttered weak protests.

"But he doesn't–"

"This is still a bit much."

"He _is_ intelligent–"

"–You're hurting him."

"He is the best in school…"

"He's just a fucking teacher's pet!" Sonari spat, spinning Quatre around so that he faced him and gripped him around the neck. Yuuko recoiled at the sudden action but smirked and took advantage of the reversed positions to press herself against the captive's back, wrapping her arms slowly around his body until her palms were flat on his chest, pressing him back against her. The others began to step back, fearful of their leader's apparent anger, but he paid them no mind. He pulled the blond boy closer, glaring darkly at the slit aquamarine eyes. He struggled against the restraints as he was held in place, trying to free himself from the twisted 'couple'. The slender girl slid one hand down, attempting to seem sensual no doubt, and slipped her hand beneath the button-down shirt. Soft material rippled as her hand moved slowly beneath it, up almost to his collarbone, before suddenly raking down harshly across the bare skin. Quatre grimaced and tried to swallow past the hand still encasing his throat. By then, the other boys had stepped a small distance back, unwilling to be part of what was going on, but too afraid to stop it.

"Why the hell won't you DO anything?!" Duo finally snapped, frustrated by Quatre's unresponsiveness. He strode the last few steps until he was hissing in the trapped boy's ear. He was here to protect Quatre, and dammit! he was going to do it even if he had to scream his throat raw to get Quatre's subconscious mind to react. He could feel Heero watching him, but he frankly didn't care what the angel thought. "Hey, you're not just going to let them do this to you, are you? Come on! This guy's a retard reject and she's a whore! You're not going to let some idiots who don't even have more than a three-syllable vocabulary toss you around like a rag doll, are you?! For crying out loud, fight back Quatre!"

Something of his ranting seemed to get through – or wandering hands finally pushed the docile boy too far – but either way Quatre finally struggled, thrashing and clawing that the hand that held his throat. Duo cheered him on.

"Let… go of me!" Quatre rasped, his voice hoarse from strain. He freed one of his hands to fumble in the satchel at his side, finally coming back up after a moment with something none of them expected, even Duo. Quatre glared angrily as he held the stiletto knife nearer to Sonari's throat.

"Let. Me. Go." He repeated quietly.

Duo's cobalt eyes widened marginally and he grimaced, seeing that knife. Not only because drawing it could quite possibly be the worst thing for Quatre to do, but also because it was _that_ knife. He recognized that knife, with its perfect shining silver blade, and the mother-of-pearl handle; he felt like he was stabbed in the heart by that little weapon, so well he knew its significance.

"Lookie, the little mouse has some claws after all." Yuuko taunted as she licked at the pale shell of an ear teasingly.

Sonari still didn't release him, and merely grinned. "What's wrong, hmm? Think you're actually going to slit my throat, angel?"

Quatre's eyes narrowed further and his lips thinned in suppressed anger. Duo buried his face in his hands and shook his head. This was all going wrong, very very wrong!

"Don't ever call me that!" Quatre hissed, "Don't ever presume to call me that!"

"Yes. Don't let him get away with that." Heero suddenly spoke up, coming up on the blonde's other side to speak by his ear coaxingly. "He doesn't have the right, and you shouldn't have to deal with all this, right? Why don't you just push the knife closer and get it over with? He started it after all; he brought it all upon himself. Just a little closer…"

"No!" Duo snapped, horrified to see the knife move a touch closer to the skin. "No, Quatre, you have to stop! You can't let yourself sink to his pathetic level! You only need to scare him enough to let him go, there's no point in killing him!" He glared at Heero past the short golden locks.

"Yes, exactly, you need to scare him. But what's to stop him from doing this again? You need to end it, once and for all. Just a little cut, draw it across the skin. The knife is sharp, so it'd be easy, right? Then he'd never bother you again, he'd know he couldn't hurt you anymore. You only have to move a little bit."

Quatre and Sonari were bantering still with the girl still making side comments, but Duo wasn't paying much attention to what was being said. He could only hear those calmly whispered words encouraging an innocent boy to kill or maim another person. And, to his horror, he once again saw the knife start in closer.

"Quatre, that's not the way and you know it!" Duo protested, growing frantic. "He's distracted by the knife, so all you have to do is kick him where you _know_ it'll hurt to get free, there's no need for bloodshed, even if he does deserve it. Think about what Iria would think if you did that!"

Miraculously, Quatre's eyes seemed to widen slightly at Duo's last comment, and he took the proffered advice and brought his leg up between Sonari's harshly, stunning the boy enough to release him and quickly spinning to shove Yuuko away so hard that she stumbled and fell at the feet of the other stationary boys, hissing and swearing in rage. But he did not put the knife away and instead held it in one hand while the other massaged his abused throat, coming up to stand before the whimpering older boy.

"I told you," he rasped, "to leave me alone. You should have listened."

"Wrong move, Winner," Sonari laughed painfully, "You'll get suspended when the principal finds out you've been bringing a knife to school. You'll never be the perfect student again."

"You can't prove I bring this school," he informed the boy, unfazed by the threat. "First of all, we aren't on school grounds. Second, it's called self-defense. Perfectly legal. And third, what do you think everyone will say when they find out you followed and molested me for your girl there," He leaned in closer with a small smirk, "in more ways than one, I might add. Does she get off on that sort of thing?" he returned to his previous position with a disdainful scowl. "On my way home from school, hmm? I'm sure I'll have rather large hand-shaped bruises by tomorrow morning to corroborate this story. I think she even took off some flesh. So you see, you have far more to worry about than my little possession here. Now," he said, coming up closer again and dropping his voice to a whisper that only Sonari could hear. "I'm going to be nice and spare you having to run away from me in front of all your lackeys, so I am just going to walk away, and you aren't going to try to stop me. Got it?" The crouching boy didn't respond and only stared at the sidewalk. Quatre flicked his wrist to catch the light on the silver blade. "Got it, Sonari-kun?" he repeated, and was rewarded with a reluctant nod. Satisfied, the blonde straightened and closed the knife back in on itself, turning his back and walking determinedly away from the stunned group of boys and a flushed and fuming girl.

Duo gave Heero one last lingering angry look before following after, whispering words of comfort to the dazed and trembling boy. Quatre had passed the first test – he had not given in to Wrath – and for that the devil was thankful, and proud of his young charge.

* * *

Several more days passed uneventfully, as he knew it would. It wouldn't be fair, after all, if the mortal boy was forced to endure one critical situation directly after another, since emotions from one could interfere with the next and alter the outcome of the Trial. And so, knowing this fact by experience, Duo spent the next few days of watching Quatre keeping himself occupied by alternately flirting with his stoic angel opponent, and fantasizing about wringing that slender neck with his braid. He had never met anyone who interested and infuriated him more, and all at the same time. 

The next test came and went, so pathetically easy that Duo hardly had to say a word to keep his charge from giving in to Heero's coaxes. The second test was of course a matter of lie/cheat/steal in place of Greed or Gluttony and the kid liberally abhorred the bare thought of any of it, so Duo just got to sit back and grin at the angel's futile attempts. Two down, one to go. Way to go Quatre!

Of course, after that Duo had to entertain himself for several more days. Woot. Hooray for the devil with the short attention span. He flicked his eyes over to where Heero stood, looking anywhere but at _him_, even preening his wings so that he could pretend to be too busy to pay him any attention. Preening! Duo clenched his fist, the only outward show of annoyance he'd allow himself.

He really, really, _really_ wanted that vacation.

* * *

"It's so all right, maybe too right. Hohoemu megami, come to light," Duo sang cheerfully, gliding in a slow, lazy jagged not-quite-line behind Quatre. "It's so all right, maybe too right. Hey you! Chansu nante no wa. Hora, dekata shidai sa." He grinned to himself, humming under his breath between choruses. He turned, angling to move back a bit so as not to fly ahead of Quatre, and flapped his wings for balance just as he passed Heero, incidentally brushing the feathered tops of his own wings just above his head. He started singing again, forcing himself not to turn his head to see if Heero was looking at him. "Han, yudan shite 'ru to. Mikata no hazu ga no no caution! Han, iji wo harazu ni. Yuuki wo dashite nigemashou!" he was just about to continue the chorus when a voice calling his name caused him to falter. That couldn't have been Heero… 

"Oi! Duo! Wake up before you fly into a tree, will ya?" the voice called again, chuckling fondly. No, definitely not Heero. He knew that voice.

"Solo!!!" he cried out, flying ahead of Quatre to where another angel and devil stood a small distance up the sidewalk. Grinning foolishly, he launched himself into the older devil's arms, knocking him off balance until the boy had to swing around in a large arc with Duo in his arms to avoid falling over. Both of them were laughing heartily.

"Heh, I'm glad to see you too Kid," Solo smirked, holding him at arms length and looking him over. "So how ya been? Haven't seen you in a while. You're looking better, at least." He laughed, tilting his head to the side and appraising Duo with sharp cornflower eyes. "Still flaunting I see."

Duo blushed reflexively and stuck his tongue out at his friend. "I'm not flaunting, I just happen to have style. So sue me for not being bland, I'm not an angel, you know."

Solo looked past his shoulder and smirked. "I see what you mean."

Duo craned his head and followed his gaze, seeing Heero coming up to another angel – most likely Solo's opponent – who was also a strong, tanned, muscled, slender asian-angel type. This one, though, was dressed in very loose white silk pants with a matching Chinese-style long-sleeved white silk jacket with a rampant jade dragon emblazoned on the back, hanging open over a deep royal blue skin-hugging tank. His hair was short and dark, shining like ebony in the morning sun, and from such a distance his eyes seemed to match, an unrevealing sloe. The wings folded precisely against the strong back were a typical mass of white feathers, but they seemed to almost be tinged with emerald. Duo blew out a puff of air, ruffling his bangs, and turned back to his friend.

"Yeah, I like to be original. Almost shudder to think what'd have happened if I'd actually gone to Heaven. But hey! Where's your charge? There's a whole ton of kids walking around here." Duo grinned cheerfully, causing Solo to smirk as he walked off the sidewalk to a standing beech a few feet from where the angels stood. He knelt down, patting the head gently of a petit Chinese girl who sat staring at a textbook.

"This is her, Meiran. Real interesting, she's got spunk. I like her." He smiled as he stood up again, then started looking around. "So, where's yours, eh? Aren't you going to show me?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. He's… uhh... damn! Where'd he go?" Duo cursed, standing on his toes to look above the heads of the students to find a particular golden… there! "Oh crap, he's on his way to school. I'll go see if I can bring him back." He was just starting forward when he felt something poke his wing. He turned around and saw Solo whispering something in the girl's ear, and abruptly she closed the book and grabbed her bag, walking away from the tree.

"Winner-kun! Please wait!" she called, waving her arm in the air and pushing through the students on her way towards his own charge. Duo just watched, blinking in surprise while Solo grinned.

"Aa! Meiran-chan, what is it?" Quatre asked, stopping to smile sweetly at the dark haired girl.

"Sumimasen, but I had a question about Hashiba-sensei's Physics lecture yesterday and I was wondering­–"

The long haired devil shook his head and chuckled as the two mortals began talking animatedly and walking back to where their guardians waited. "You always were the impressive one," he admitted, giving his friend a wink. He gave a tired sigh. "Man, I am _so_ glad to see you. I've been going insane on this case."

"Tough Trial?" Solo asked, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a slight 'I'm listening' frown of concentration.

Duo snorted. "You have no idea. Remember Trowa? One of my cases about a year ago that became a devil?" he asked, and Solo nodded. He continued. "This one's a personal acquaintance of his from life, so I'm kinda pressed not to fail this one and let him down, you know? Though, in truth this kid's the closest thing to a living saint, I don't even really have to try much to keep him from temptation."

"So what's the problem, Duo?" Solo asked, confused.

Duo scowled, feeling his cheeks flush. "The worst problem, Solo dear, is that I'm up against an excruciatingly gorgeous angel with the social skills of a rock and probably about as many emotions as one too!" he fumed, crossing his arms over his chest also and huffing his annoyance and frustration.

"Aww, upset that someone's finally not falling face first for your charms?" Solo teased, grinning broadly as he tried not to laugh outright and possibly hurt his young friend's feelings.

"You're such a bastard, Solo," he growled, but there was no malice in it. "And no, that's not it. I've had people not want me before–"

"Live people," Solo interjected.

"Shut _up_." Duo snapped and the other shrugged, motioning for him to continue. "Like I said, there've been people who haven't wanted me before, which doesn't bother me 'cause I have more fun playing than actually getting involved, you know?" Solo nodded again and Duo sighed. "For some reason, this guy just bothers the hell out of me. No emotions, hardly speaks, strong… he's like a damn soldier or something! Gah!" frustrated, the slim devil buried his face in his hands. "If he wasn't already dead I think I'd kill him!"

Solo gripped him by the shoulders and shook him until Duo raised his eyes to meet his. "Kid, get a hold of yourself! It's only an assignment, a mission. And he's just an angel! Give it another week and it'll all be over, and you can forget about him during your time off."

Duo froze, deep cobalt eyes widening. The corner of his lips twitched in attempt to smile. "I know, and I think that's what I'm afraid of…" he whispered.

"_What_?!" Solo nearly yelped, so utterly confused that a small functioning part of Duo's mind could almost imagine a question mark flashing above his friend's head. "Duo, you're not making any sense! What the hell's gotten into you anyway?"

"Don't you think I know that?" he almost cried, shaking his head so that the long braid whipped against his back. "It's like some hunt or something. As much as he infuriates me I can't help but keep pushing. Hell, he's like Pandora's fucking Box, Solo! My curiosity is driving me to want to pick him apart and figure him out when – in all rights – I shouldn't give a damn!" Solo suddenly wrapped his arms around Duo's shoulders and pulled him close, whispering inaudibly in his ear. The younger devil returned the embrace, slipping his arms around his friend's waist tightly and burying his head against the welcoming shoulder. "I really wish Lucifer had let me have my vacation." Duo muttered, and they both chuckled. He fell silent, relaxing to Solo's soothing touch.

* * *

konpeitou: Just in case all the Japanese names seem odd, imagine that Quatre is living in Japan with his sister. Thus most of the classmates are Japanese and the random uses of Japanese. I try not to use much, but sometimes the Japanese words or the like feel more fitting, like suffixes and the like. The song Duo sings is one of his image songs from the series. Tell me what you think?  



	6. Heero: Sideline Views

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Another short chapter, mostly just to give a little insight into Heero. I'll start writing more on his side soom, really. Enjoy the… blurb

**Apocryphal Reality: Sideline Views**

Heero had walked slowly to where his friend stood slightly off the sidewalk path after Duo's explosive greeting with his devil friend. He came up beside the other angel's slender form, neither of them saying anything for several moments. The silence was a welcome change to Heero.

"Your devil seems… enthusiastic," Wufei spoke at length, eyeing the two practically bouncing together a small distance away.

"To say the least," Heero snorted, tossing his head slightly. "More like exasperating."

Wufei turned his attention to his fellow angel, one slender eyebrow raised in question. "Yuy?"

Heero flicked his eyes to his friend. Wufei wasn't prying, exactly, so he wasn't necessarily required to elaborate. If he chose to remain silent, he knew Wufei would respect that decision and not press. But for some reason, Heero found himself wanting to talk to possibly the only person he considered a friend. "That devil is like a walking embodiment of annoyance," he muttered, lip curling slightly at the thought. "Not only is he loud, but he never seems to stop talking. The fact that he rarely has anything of any interest to say only makes it worse. He doesn't seem to even take the Trial seriously – though, given the case I can see why he really wouldn't have to; this kid's amazingly naïve and honest. Even so, that doesn't excuse incompetence. He floats around, teasing and taunting like–" Heero paused abruptly, staring up at canopy of leaves. "Aa god, I'm ranting," he breathed forlornly. Wufei actually laughed outright and Heero snapped his gaze abruptly to where the other angel stood, glaring darkly. "What?!" he growled.

Wufei controlled his laughter down to a weak chuckle, but mirth and amusement still shone in his dark eyes, along with something else Heero suspected was awe. "You're frustrated!" he exclaimed, as if that explained everything. Heero still glared. "I've never seen anyone get under your skin like this, Yuy, not even Peacecraft!" he chuckled again and Heero sighed.

"At least Relena knows when to back off and isn't so blatant in her attentions." As soon as he said it, Heero mentally willed Wufei not to press that particular revelation. Thankfully he didn't, as his attention was drawn somewhere else. Curious, Heero followed his gaze to where he saw the two devils approaching a tree not far away.

The second devil seemed to be a bit older than the rest of them, dressed in long shorts that ended just below the knees and a violet tee with kanjis scrawled on it over a long-sleeve shirt that had stylized lions running rampant along the length of the arms. A collection of hemp and ball-bearing necklaces adorned his neck and wrists. The devil's hair was cropped short and seemed neither dark nor light, though Heero couldn't tell precisely what color it was. He stared, but couldn't figure out what it was that held Wufei's attention so raptly.

The two devils came to stand beside a girl that sat at the base of the tree reading a textbook. The older devil patted the mortal's head in obvious affection and Heero was surprised to hear Wufei hissing softly under his breath at the devil's actions. He looked between the devils and his friend, noting how Wufei's eyes followed the young girl rather than the devils as she suddenly sprang up and ran after his own retreating charge, pulling him back immersed in deep conversation. Heero frowned in confusion.

Never being one for conversation anyhow, the sleek angel let the conversation – as it were – drop. He found himself watching to two devils once more, and as he watched he could see Duo's energy ebb rapidly, bare shoulders slumping beneath heavy wings and head downcast. A few words were spoken and Duo abruptly buried his face in his hands and the other devil shook him briskly by the shoulders with concern. Duo's back was to him, so Heero couldn't see his expression as he suddenly tensed after the words of his friend. A few moments later, a look of stunned confusion replaced the older boy's expression. The two spoke some more, and Duo shook his head rapidly, sending his ridiculous mane of hair thrashing, and after a few more words, the older devil embraced the younger tightly. Duo returned the hug hesitantly, then seemed to melt into it, clutching tightly as the other rocked him gently.

"Yuy." Wufei said beside him. Heero turned to face the other angel, idly wondering if he had been seen staring. "Are you all right?"

Heero then noticed that he was scowling and carefully schooled his features into indifference. "Heiki," he answered crisply.

Wufei eyes him skeptically. "The bell has rung, we must be going." Blinking, Heero looked around and realized it was true. Students were all making their way steadily towards the school grounds, chatting amicably. "Ja, until we meet again Yuy." With that, Wufei left his side and began sorting his way through the crowd.

Heero took another look towards the devils. The two now stood apart, and the older one held Duo's face within his cupped palms. He said something, to which Duo nodded, and the other smiled, leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on the younger boy's forehead.

The angel turned away, looking for his charge. What did it matter to him, anyway?

* * *

konpeitou: I apologize for the short chapter. I did start this a long time ago not thinking it would be long enough to split into chapters so I hadn't really considered it, but it felt awkward to try to expand it now. The chapters start evening out to a more stable length from now on. I hope you enjoyed the bit anyway, reviews are always much appreciated n.n! 


	7. Duo: Secret Rendezvous

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Sorry, I lost track of time because I got a tad distracted with another story. Writing a gaanaru story as a belated birthday present for my best friend doragon, and to cheer her up through her school stress. I shall endevor not to neglect this one.

**Much love to snowdragon** for the continuous reviews. It brings me much happiness to know at least one person is still reading this and liking it. Thank you very much for your kind reviews so far.

**Apocryphal Reality: Secret Rendezvous **

"Ah, I hate school," Duo sighed, flopping dramatically onto Quatre's bed. The blonde was currently occupied in the bathroom. "At least when I was alive I could ditch."

"Hn."

Duo blinked. A snort in response to a pointless – and rhetorical – comment? No question needed? _Whoo! Progress!!_ he cheered mentally. The devil sat up, looking at the slender angel reclining against the wall. His eyes were closed so Duo took the chance to stare openly. _Gorgeous…_

This was the first time that Heero showed any sign of opening up to him, or at least relaxing a bit, and Duo didn't want to waste his chance by moving and end up pushing him farther away. But then, he also didn't want to waste it by not acting at all. Duo's fist clenched. Maybe he was just reading too much into it, it was only a simple monosyllable after all, not a declaration of friendship.

Before he had a chance to make up his mind, Quatre came out of the bathroom and made ready for bed. Duo sighed, chance lost. Defeated, the devil slipped off the bed and curled up beside it to sleep as well.

* * *

He woke suddenly in the middle of the night, but couldn't quite place what it was that woke him. He lay on the floor, listening intently. A small scuffle marked Heero's movement across the room. For a moment, Duo marveled at the fact that he recognized the angel so easily after so short a time. There was another scuffling sound, mixed with the quiet '_whirr_' that marked feathered wings being unfurled. Duo leapt up abruptly, turning to face the direction of the sounds and finding a rather peculiar sight. 

Heero was leaning halfway out the window with his wings open and bracing him on either side of the sill. His lean body was shifting, seemingly struggling with something outside, when suddenly he grunted and yanked himself – and his prize – back inside.

Duo could only gape, mouth floundering like a beached fish as words failed to come to him. Heero continued to glare darkly at the willowy devil he was holding by the collar, who remained unfazed and stared coolly back as though he had every right to be there, which he certainly did _not_.

"Trowa!" Duo exclaimed finally, moving around the bed but coming no closer. He could only look between the two in shock.

"Cheating devils," Heero growled, turning his glare on the other devil for a moment. If his wits hadn't been scattered, Duo might have been afraid. As it was, he could only blurt out the first thing that came to his mind.

"WHAT?!?" he squeaked incredulously.

"Two devils working on one assignment is against the rules. Such action makes this Trial forfeit. Quatre Raberba Winner will thus Fail and–"

"Wait!" Duo cried, scrambling to Heero's side. "Wait! This isn't what you think!"

"Then what is it?" the angel snapped, eyes blazing.

"I don't know! But it's not what you think. I didn't know he was here, I thought I was alone on this! He shouldn't be here and we all know it," at this he turned a withering gaze to his friend before returning his attention to Heero, who didn't seem like he was believing Duo's explanation. "Dammit Heero, listen to me! He can't be working with me because he's newly dead; he's still restricted from working Trials."

"You're lying." That quiet accusation, so full of spite, hit Duo hard. The devil went rigid with shock for the second time that night, eyes impossibly wide and shining bright blue in the dim room. Just as quickly, anger crashed down on him like a tidal wave.

"_I never lie_!" he hissed, barely controlled fury making his voice thick. His fists clenched tightly against his thighs. "I may be a devil, and I do a lot of things, but not that. _Never_ that! I run, I hide, but I never tell a lie!"

Heero stared at him for a long moment with an expression Duo's muddled mind couldn't discern. Another tense moment passed before Heero released his hold on Trowa and the devil stumbled slightly, smoothing his rumpled shirt wordlessly. "I'm not saying I believe you," Heero told them, and Duo felt another small flash of anger that he quickly suppressed. "But whether I believe you or not doesn't matter. The fact is, he's here and his presence alters the outcome of the Trial. By your knowledge or not, he has condemned this boy."

"No!" Trowa cried out, speaking for the first time since his discovery. He took an involuntary step forward, and Duo flinched to see the angel's eyes narrow. "Don't do this, please. It's my fault. Don't punish him for my mistake!"

"Enough!" Heero barked, and Trowa bowed his head to the higher authority. "It's not my choice, Devil. Rules are rules. You should have thought about that before you came around here messing with things that don't concern you."

"But–"

"Trowa, just go," Duo whispered, interrupting his friend's half-formed protest before it could make things worse. He stared at the floor, refusing to look at either of them as he continued in a low voice. "Look, I know you didn't mean anything, but you're only making things worse. So do Quatre a favor and just go back to Hell, all right? Please, Trowa, just… go."

There was silence, and the weight of his friend's gaze pressed heavily upon Duo. He was glad to finally feel the subtle rippling of energy as his devil friend Shifted out, and when he raised his eyes minutely, there was only emptiness where the other had been before. _And now to clean up the mess_…

"I'm sorry." Duo said quietly.

"What?" Heero snapped towards him, and the devil could feel the eyes on him sending a shiver down his spine.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, keeping his own eyes lowered so he wouldn't have to face the strength of those prussian depths. "I'm sorry about him. I can't believe he meant any harm, not to Quatre. I knew he'd be worried about him, but I honestly didn't think he'd take such a risk."

"What do you mean, 'worried about him'?" Heero asked, and Duo was relieved to hear that, although severe, his tone had lightened considerably.

"Those two… they kind of have a personal connection. From life, you know?"

"Elaborate."

Duo flinched and did as he was told. "Trowa hasn't been dead for very long, you see. Less than a year, actually. Those two were really close when he still lived, best friends with the kind of loyal relationship that takes a miracle to come between. Their sisters are close, too. Remember Catherine? The girl Quatre's sister spends so much time with? That's Trowa's older sister. It's almost a family thing, practically inseparable." Duo chuckled with fondness at memories of watching the little mixed family not long ago. He sobered quickly. "That's why I knew Trowa would be worried. This family they've made – Quatre and the sisters – he loved them more than his own life, more than his own soul. So it seems Quatre's Trial is hitting him kind of hard, knowing that his beast friend is likely to die soon. His own wounds are still pretty fresh and he hasn't had time to truly get over his life.

"I'm not trying to excuse what he did. He should've known better than to let his heart and hurt rule his judgment. But I do know that ruining Quatre was the last thing on his mind."

"How can you be so sure?" Heero questioned quietly after some time. Duo raised his head to look at the angel and was surprised to see that he was no longer angry. He only seemed curious and thoughtful, though a hint of doubt still remained. "How can you be sure that his intention wasn't to get Quatre to fail? After all, then he'd go to Hell and they'd be together again, ne?"

Duo shook his head. "That's not it, it doesn't work that way. If Quatre fails the Trial, he _will_ go to Hell, but he won't be a devil like the rest of us. Just as I'm sure there's some sort of criteria up there to be able to work on Trials, it's the same in Hell. Devils are only on one layer of Hell, and to be a devil instead of a demon you have to have passed some rather strict criteria. So if Quatre fails, he _will_ become a demon and be placed in whichever Depth Lucifer deems fit."

Heero remained silent for a long while, digesting everything he had been told. Duo tried not to fidget as the pregnant silence stretched inexorably longer with each passing moment, the room deafening with its lack of sound. Nearly twenty minutes passed before Duo worked up the nerve to speak again, to ask the question that was plaguing his mind and which answer held the fate of the peacefully slumbering boy.

"Heero?" he queried carefully. The angel gave him his attention, face impassive once more. Duo took a breath, "Heero… what are you going to do now? Are you going to report this?"

"I've been misinformed," he said. Duo blinked in confusion and noticed that a frown was pulling at the corner of the angel's full lips and the prussian eyes were slightly glazed, as though he weren't really speaking to Duo at all. The moment passed and his expression returned to normal. "I do plan to file a complaint about being denied proper background information on this case. But no, I don't think I'll report this incident. I don't actually have any proof that he interfered with the subject, not to mention Wufei would never let it drop if he learned that I chose protocol over justice. And…" Heero's voice dropped to a low mutter Duo had to strain to hear, "And I believe what you told me is true."

The braided devil felt his heart soar at that, his already rapidly beating heart quickening its pace from more than anxiety. He was careful to hold his elation back, however, because he felt certain that it would kill any chances he might have. The part of his mind that was contemplating his relationship possibilities with the beautiful angel was soon berated by the saner part of his mind that wondered what the hell he was thinking when he was dancing on the edge of a tightrope that held the future and happiness of his friend.

Carefully, Duo stepped forward towards Heero, moving cautiously and watching for any signs that he was pushing his boundaries. Slowly, almost shyly, he reached the angel's side and moved his hand forward to gently clasp that of the other, tugging it forward in a loose grip so that Heero could pull away if he wanted, until their twined hands were about level with his chest. He brought his other hand up to encase the tanned appendage with his own pale ones, tilting his head up to meet Heero's eyes unflinchingly. Duo smiled – a small, genuine, smile – and silently mouthed the word 'arigatou', not trusting his voice when his heart was still pounding so much that he could hear his blood thundering in his ears.

He didn't expect any sort of reply, and so he didn't wait for one. Duo took a step backwards away from Heero and released his hand with a last lingering touch that he couldn't resist. He turned his back then, and walked around the bed to where he usually rest and deliberately lay back down on the plush rug, curling his wings around his body tightly like a cocoon.

It was a long while before the slender braided devil fell asleep again.

* * *

konpeitou: Please review? n.n;; I'm beginning to think no one but snowdragon likes it, despite the hit count ;-; 


	8. Heero: Awkward Silences

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

ｋonpeitou: I dunno what to comment o.o; Hope you enjoy it! Much love to all those who have reviewed and to those who will. ♥

**Apocryphal Reality: Awkward Silences **

The next day it was like nothing had happened. Neither angel nor devil felt inclined to bring up the subject of the previous night's occurrence, so it seemed to hang heavily in the room like a storm cloud. Heero woke first, followed shortly by Duo, then Quatre several minutes later. The devil stretched languidly, turning to face the stoic angel. His usual morning greeting was weak and his smile half-hearted. Duo seemed to realize it, because a moment later he faltered and turned his back, busying himself with straightening his hair. Heero frowned; _what was wrong with him_? he wondered, and a moment later had to ask himself: _why should I care_?

Quatre sat up groggily on the bed, turning off his alarm just before it started, as usual. He rubbed his eyes and combed his fingers through the silky golden hair, pausing to press his palms against his skull as he grimaced. "Uhnn… my head," he moaned, then slipped out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom, "What is it with all these headaches lately…?" he muttered. Heero's frown deepened slightly. Quatre had been having headaches nearly every morning since the Trial started, but there had been no record of them in his file before; the angel wondered if he had been denied information again.

The blonde boy swallowed four acetaminophens from the medicine cabinet with a small glass of water before returning to the room and going about his normal morning routine. About fifteen minutes later, the boy was heading out the door. The devil followed directly after at a more sedate pace than was usual, and a moment later Heero also exited the room and descended the stairs. Iria already had breakfast ready and waiting for her brother by the time they entered, and Quatre smiled warmly to her as he took his seat. Heero and Duo waited unobtrusively to the side of the room.

"Ne, Quatre," Iria began, setting aside her notebook for a moment and leaning over the counter to look at the blonde boy in concern, "Are you feeling all right?"

Quatre blinked a moment in surprise before smiling again, "Ee, I'm fine. I've just been having a bit of a headache lately, don't worry." Iria only gave him a stern look.

"Why didn't you say something? I'm a doctor, you're supposed to tell me when you're not feeling well."

"I'm fine Iria, really." Quatre insisted, smiling charmingly, but the older girl didn't seem like she believed him. Instead, he changed the subject. "By the way, I'm probably going to be home a bit late today. I'm going to work on my Psychology report at the library for a while. If it gets late I'll stop and pick up something to eat on my way home, ne?"

Iria sighed, giving in to the distraction and pulling her notebook back in front of her to review what was written. "All right, but I want you to call me if you aren't feeling well again, got it?" Quatre nodded and she gave him an extra long look to be sure, "Right then, just try not to stay out too late. Hurry up and finish so you won't be late to school."

With another smile, Quatre did as he was told. Only a few minutes later and he was grabbing his bag and heading for the door, but before he could leave Iria delayed him. Heero and Duo preceded him outside and stood as he waited for his sister.

"Wait," she called, coming down the hall and giving him a gentle hug, "Have a good day, otouto-chan."

"Thanks. You too, Iria-'nee-san." With a kiss on the cheek, Iria released Quatre and ushered him out the door playfully. "Later!"

As they all walked, even Heero wasn't oblivious to the heavy awkwardness that hung in the air. Quatre was silent and strangely morose looking, staring only at the ground as he walked. Duo seemed almost as bad, eerily quiet and frowning slightly as he walked with a faraway look in his cobalt eyes. Normally, Heero prized his peace and tranquility, but this mood felt oppressive and uncomfortable, even for him. As the three of them turned a corner, Heero closed in slightly until he was walking beside the devil, though the other didn't seem to notice his presence.

"I told you," he said finally, "I'm not going to report the incident. Quatre's Trial is still undecided." Though Heero kept his half-lidded gaze fixed on the mortal boy's back, he could feel the devil's head snap up in surprise.

"Y-yeah, I know," Duo faltered, then wrapped his bare arms around himself with a sigh. "I know…"

Well, there wasn't much to say to that so Heero remained silent as they continued steadily along the nearly empty streets towards the school. The angel stared at the pavement passing beneath his feet as he walked, thoughts withdrawn. _What the hell is wrong with me? I'm letting this Case get under my skin, getting too involved. This is a mission; I'm supposed to remain impartial and focused at all times. So why do I keep feeling like my mind is staggering along in half steps?_

Heero huffed a slight sigh and stuffed his hands into his pockets. _If Wufei were here, he'd have my hide for not following the rules_, he thought with a brief ironic smirk, which faded as he stole a glance at Duo. The devil was still hugging himself and trudging with a distant expression, smile absent. _Iya. If Wufei were here, he'd have done the same. Hell with the rules, I broke them the moment I retracted my judgment and allowed the Trial to continue, incident unreported. I refuse to win by loopholes or taking advantage of a devil's weakness._

There were several rules that were systematically drilled into an angel's head before they were allowed on Trials, among which the strict demand for impartiality and orders to do all that they could to succeed. By all rights, he should have called a Forfeit the previous night, and barring that taken the opportunity of the devil's off-balance state of mind to increase his chances.

Heero grit his teeth. _I won't win so poorly!_

All at once, he was surprised to find himself upon the campus grounds. Heero looked up, caught suddenly by the sheer amount of students. So many kids, so young, so oblivious to what's going on outside their small circle of thoughts and life. _How many of these kids will I be on the Trial for?_ Heero wondered. They were all doomed to die – eventually. How many more would he succeed on? How many more would he condemn to Hell? Seeing all the young, ignorant humans walking around with small crosses hanging by their heart – secure in their faith that God would protect and forgive them – made him nauseous with what felt suspiciously like shame. They were all raised to believe that angels were given unto them to protect and guide them away from temptation, where in truth it was the other way around, and the devils took all the blame for their actions.

Without thinking, he looked up at Duo, who now walked slightly ahead of him. Seeing the ridiculous chestnut rope swaying rhythmically against the slender back as the devil climbed the stairs after Quatre made Heero feel inexplicably warmed. He raised his hand to stare at his palm, dark and calloused, remembering the previous night with a slight frown. There was no doubt that the devil confused him; first acting cheerful and seductive, then shy and withdrawn. In the beginning of the Trial he was openly flirtatious, but then last night he had seemed nervous and all together skittish when approaching Heero.

_I don't understand him_, he thought to himself, dropping his hand back to his side and steadily following the pair through the masses of students, _I don't understand devils at all. They're hated by the human race as a whole – those who even believe that we exist. Angels are loved for what they do, and they take all our blame. Why do they bother? It makes no sense, why does he care so much?_

With half a mind, Heero walked into the classroom and leaned against the wall near to Quatre's seat. Duo pulled himself up onto the windowsill and stared past the panes towards the still-rising sun. The angel sighed imperceptibly and crossed his arms over his chest, thinking quite deliberately of _nothing_.

* * *

Libraries. One place he actually enjoyed being in. Silence that was gentle and welcoming. He could still remember, when he was alive, retreating to the sanctuary of the large library when the masses of people and sounds drove him to the brink of social anxiety. He would huddle in a corner, curled in one of the many reading chairs with a well kempt book, reading himself into oblivion…

If he hadn't been researching a textbook, Heero would have been reading over the blonde boy's shoulder. As it was, he merely rested his hips against the desk table and reveled in the solitude. Duo was sitting on the table itself on the other side of Quatre, still oddly silent but less depressed looking. The devil's wings were folded tightly against his body in an obvious attempt to avoid accidental contact with the studying mortal. Not that Quatre would notice it, of course, but it did feel oddly disturbing when a living body suddenly occupied the same space as one's ethereal body.

They had already been waiting in the library for some time – since school ended, in fact – and still Heero couldn't get that one nagging thought out of his head. Even the calm solitude of the place could not placate his restless thoughts. "Naze," the angel breathed softly, unconsciously voicing his internal confusion. Only when the devil made a small noise of inquiry did he realize his error.

"What?" Duo asked quietly, innocently, crushing the slip hope he held that he could get off without having to elaborate on his slip-up. _Well, why not?_ The angel asked himself, _What better way to get an explanation?_

Heero sighed, still mentally debating, before finally giving in to his curiosity. "Naze ga… wakannai," he admitted finally, frowning slightly as he stared at the ground trying to order his thoughts. When he realized that he had reverted to his native Japanese, he repeated again in English. "I don't understand why you're here." There was a short moment of silence, then:

"I'm here for the same reason you are," Duo answered softly, "To guide this mortal whose chances of dieing soon have significantly increased."

"That's not what I meant. I meant, why do you bother coming to the Trials?"

"What? You think that no devil could ever win against an angel?" he hissed, anger and indignation palpable.

"No!" The angel grit his teeth and shook his head. "Never mind, just forget it." _Baka akuma!_

"Sorry. I didn't mean to jump to conclusions… what is it that you don't understand, then?" Hearing the apologetic words, Heero flicked his eyes to briefly see the devil. _Baka akuma_…

"I don't understand why you come," he repeated, still staring at the ground, "We're ordered by God to test the worthiness of all souls to enter Heaven. But you, why do you come? You don't get redemption; those living mortals that believe in us blame you for our actions while giving credit to us for yours. For what reason do you strive to save them?"

"We… are also ordered by Lucifer, but," he paused, and finally Heero raised his eyes to gaze at the devil. Duo was solemn and staring fixedly at his knees. "But, we have the choice whether or not we want to work the Trials. We all have our own reasons for agreeing, but all of us disagree with the unfairness of only having someone trying to condemn you without the help of someone else to act as conscience." Duo pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, his cobalt eyes staring blankly over his knees. "And I guess, in a way, we just don't really want anyone else to make the mistakes that we have."

Heero got the impression that the devil wasn't going to volunteer any more information than that, and by the faraway look of him, the angel wasn't particularly interested in pressing for more. He turned his attention once more to contemplative silence, digesting the tidbits just fed to him and gaining new insight where he had never before looked.


	9. Duo: Another Secret

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

ｋonpeitou: I'm sadly already catching up to everything I already had pre-written before I started posting, and having some trouble getting through the next bits. (Largely because I already thought up how Hell works but not so much about Heaven, so I'm trying to work that out still). So unless I get a better burst of inspiration than my lazy muse has been giving me, updates may start slowing down around chapter 15 or so. Not sure, but I thought I'd give the warning. And what the hey, if anyone has things they'd like to see happen, feel free to say so - it may give me ideas to throw in after all!

Much luffles again to snowdragon ::offer pocky:: As for Quatre, they are symtoms of something but you'll see what in a few more chapters n.n

**Apocryphal Reality: Another Secret**

The petit blonde didn't spend very much time at the library, or at least not so much as he seemed to have planned. The sky wasn't even dark enough to be considered evening when he exited the building and began his trek home. He remained quiet and withdrawn as he walked along the semi-crowded streets, eyes cloudy and distracted and a faint frown marring the innocent beauty of his face. Duo half-worried that he would walk into oncoming traffic without noticing and was sure to keep a close eye on the depressed looking boy. Heero, also, seemed to watch Quatre with sharp, calculating eyes as they walked. As with earlier in the day, the journey home was made in silence, on the parts of both living and nonliving.

Duo tried to focus on simply watching for danger to Quatre and to not think on anything else. Not Quatre and Heero's strange behavior, not Trowa's unexpected involvement, not his confusion, and most definitely not his feelings on the matters, shoving it all to the back of his mind where it could be adamantly ignored and then forgotten. Another glance at the blonde, after quickly scanning the vicinity for any possible danger, made something in his gut feel suddenly heavy. The closer he looked, the heavier the feeling became.

Quatre was walking quickly but his feet moved in a shuffling, weighted kind of way that would not be so out of place on most other people, but on the cheerful boy it was mildly distressing to see. Moreover, he walked with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, aquamarine eyes focused fixedly on the concrete a small distance before his feet. His shoulders were hunched tightly, so much so that Duo could almost imagine angry red lines of stress screaming across his back; he looked as though he were expecting pain to come at any moment. Duo frowned and thought desperately for what the cause might be. All for naught, he could come up with no explanation.

By the time the trio reached the young Winner household, Duo himself felt tense and stressed. Between Quatre's exceedingly odd behavior and the strained silence stretched between himself and the angel, only pride and vanity kept Duo from screaming and tearing at his hair. _Good thing it's in a braid or the temptation would probably get to me_, was his bitter thought as he climbed the couple steps and followed his charge into the manor-like home. The lack of lights surprised him out of his thoughts, much the same way as it seemed to have Quatre. The blonde was slowly putting his keys away in his satchel, eyes wide and still, no doubt waiting to acclimate to the new darkness. To this other side, Heero's wings were about the only easily visible thing in the hall. Duo's own devil's eyes did not have to adjust much, as he was sure Heero's didn't either, so after a moment he just stood, waiting for Quatre to make a move of some sort.

"Onee-san?" Quatre called lightly, turning on a small light, blinking his eyes rapidly as his eyes once again readjusted, and slipping off his shoes before continuing further into the hall. His hands placed themselves harmlessly around the strap of his bag "Iria?" he called again when no answer was forthcoming. Duo heard nothing but the vague sounds of a tv coming from the family room. As they walked, Quatre seemed to pick up on the sounds because after a few moments he smiled gently and walked with sure steps towards the direction of the sound. "'nee-san, I'm home. I'm not feeling too well so I –" Whatever else the blonde had intended to say died on his tongue as he rounded the corner. Standing where he was behind the youth, Duo could not see what it was that froze the boy where he stood.

"Quatre!" Iria's gentle voice, sounding suspiciously like a yelp of surprise, broke the tranquility that had permeated the house moments before. Another voice, much quieter, followed but Duo could not make out the words. "What are you doing home so early? I wasn't expecting you 'til later!" Iria's voice was somewhat quieter but still relatively loud, sounding strangely panicked and accusatory.

"I –" Quatre began, but seemed unable to finish whatever it was he planned to say, if he even knew what he was going to say in the first place. By the thick tension suddenly filling the area, Duo wouldn't have been surprised find Quatre in a mild state of shock. Curiosity getting the better of him, Duo edged his way past Quatre into the room, his chest just barely gliding through the boy's arm. Body tense and already trembling, Quatre shivered and pulled his left arm up to clutch at his right tightly where Duo had passed him. "I…I –" he stuttered but nothing seemed to come out, all coherency lost.

Duo numbly noticed that Heero was now standing near him in the room, but he was staring, wide-eyed and shocked, at the scene unfolding before him. It wasn't particularly difficult to guess just what it was his charge had walked in on. Iria was lying along the length of the couch, head and shoulders supported by several couch pillows propped against the armrest. On the couch with her was the pair's dear family friend, Catherine, laying practically on top of the other woman, arms around each other and legs intertwined. Judging by the fact that several of the buttons on Iria's blouse were undone and Catherine's shirt had ridden considerably far up her midriff, not to mention the rather unsubtle placement of some hands, the scene was all too clear. Though, the dark kiss-bruised lips and almost equally dark flushes staining their faces was possibly even more obvious that the two were considerably more than just best friends.

Iria moved to sit up, opening her mouth to speak, but it was the wrong move. Quatre stumbled back, turned, and ran away. The two women seemed stunned, frozen in place. Without waiting for them to come to their senses Duo bolted out of the room with Heero beside him and together they raced silently after the blonde boy until they reached his room just before the door slammed closed behind their tightly-furled wings. Prussian and cobalt settled silently on the shuddering body curled up on the cold bed, comforter giving way beneath the boy's light weight. The quiet sound of stifled sobs was the only sound within the room's walls. The devil was torn, his instinct screamed to offer comfort but his common sense warned him from interfering outside of a test – not to mention the fact he couldn't exactly give the boy a shoulder to cry on. The option was taken away from him as a soft knock sounded on the bedroom door a scant minute later. Not waiting for a response, the door clicked open slowly and the dusky blonde head of the elder lady Winner peeked inside, followed closely by her body.

"Quatre?" The voice was soft, hesitant, worry written clearly across the round face. "Kitty-Quat? Can I come in?" A sniffle was her only reply.

_Pretty useless question, _Duo thought with a purely mental snort, _seeing as how you're already _in_ the room_. As she edged her way closer into the room, the devil stepped to the side until he was standing next to the rigid angel so that the woman wouldn't walk through him. Catherine, he noticed, was standing in the doorway, looking very unsure of herself. For a moment neither woman moved, and then Iria continued forward, seating herself on the edge of the bed and draping herself over the huddled blonde in an attempt to hug the smaller body. The boy's cries were heartrending and Duo curled both arms and wings about himself as he endured the scene. _I'm sorry Trowa… I'm so sorry he ever has to endure this kind of pain._

"I'm sorry," Iria said over the cries, oddly echoing the devil's own thoughts. "I'm so sorry kitty. Please don't cry. Please. I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen, I never meant to hurt you. Please please don't cry." On and on for several minutes the elder sister continued to apologize and beg Quatre to stop crying while his broken sobs filled the room and out even through the house until every space was permeated with the sorrow. The few minutes it took for the boy to begin to calm felt like a minor eternity and both Duo and Heero who waited in silent respect until the blonde youth finally hiccupped, struggled beneath his sister's weight and moved into an awkward sitting position. The aqua eyes were bloodshot and puffy as he stared frankly at his sister.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he murmured, voice hoarse and thick from tears. He opened his mouth for a second as though to say more before clamping his jaw shut tightly and scrubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. Iria hesitated, and Duo would've been willing to bet that she was biting her lip indecisively, as she stared at her brother and dropped her now unoccupied hands into her lap. A quick glance to the doorway showed Catherine clutching the doorframe, half hiding behind it but stubbornly staying inside, even though her pained expression made it clear she'd rather run – whether away or into the room to comfort the siblings, Duo wasn't quite sure. Quatre sniffled on the bed, trying to regain control, and stared at his sister as he waited for the answer his watery ocean eyes demanded.

"I…" the elder Winner faltered, hands twitching idly and she lowered her gaze to stare at where they rested in her lap. "I was afraid to tell you." Iria admitted finally in a quiet, somewhat shameful voice. "I was afraid of what you'd think, how you'd react. You're everything to me little brother, but she… I don't think I could bear it if you didn't approve. I was afraid, and I just didn't know how to tell you. The time never seemed right. I'm so sorry, I should have told you. It shouldn't have happened this way." Her babble slowly began to die off as the shade of imminent tears began to color her voice. Quatre sat, immobile except to occasionally wipe away the stubborn tears that continued to fall. As far as the devil could tell, he didn't spare so much as a glance to the woman fidgeting in the doorway.

"How long?" Iria's head lifted once more at Quatre's choked question. If Duo was any judge of body language, she seemed even more uncomfortable as she hesitated once more.

"Eight months," she answered at last, "almost nine." She might have said more, but Quatre's eyes widened at the admission and a fresh set of tears fell unheeded down his cheeks.

"That's…"

His sister moved forward a little, made as though to touch him and pulled back with visible effort. "Not long after he… We were all upset kitty, you know that, and she was alone. I had to be there for her. For you, too. But she needed me and… I don't know exactly what happened. Something changed and we've been together since." Now she leaned forward, hands bracing her weight on the bed in front of her knees. "I swear I meant to tell you Quatre, I never wanted things to turn out like this, I never wanted to hurt you. Please believe me. I–"

"I do," the blonde interrupted before his sister could fall into another apologetic cycle. He brushed tears away again in another useless gesture as the saline continued to fall. "It's just," he stopped, hiccupped and met the elder sibling's eyes with a heart-wrenchingly sad expression, "It's just I miss him so much. Seeing you two, it reminded me… made me think…" he lowered his eyes and brushed the tears away with another hiccup. When he looked up again, his eyes went finally to the woman in the doorway, "I miss him."

Catherine sniffed, tears also slipping down her cheeks as she nodded sadly, "Me too," she whispered, barely audible. Then Quatre slipped back into his sobs, reaching forward to clutch at his sister with one last look at the other woman standing by the door. As Iria wrapped her arms around the slender form across her lap, Catherine hesitantly took the invitation that was offered and crawled carefully onto the bed, wrapping her arms around the two siblings – both of which shifted to hold her and include her in the embrace.

Duo continued to stand passively across the room with the angel standing closely to his side. For a long while he remained that way, silent and immobile for measures long past what most thought him capable of enduring, watching over the three bodies heaped in a tangled mass of mourning. He didn't even move to touch the silent tears that trickled slowly down his pale cheeks until they were swallowed by fabric around his neck.

* * *

konpeitou: Please review? I can take constuctive criticism too ::tries to subdue lazy muse for some more writing:: 


	10. Heero: Not Quite Right

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou:

**Apocryphal Reality:**

If he were to be perfectly honest, Heero had no idea what to do with himself. Normally his young charge would have been long asleep by this hour and the two watchers could curl up and rest themselves within a cocoon of wings, but with the odd turn of events Quatre stayed up late with the two elder females. So he stood, passively waiting on the sidelines of the room beside his opposing devil until the boy decided to give into his exhaustion and sleep. Heero almost sighed with relief when he did, his sister and the other woman called Catherine bidding him to sleep. So as the lights went out one by one and the blonde settled between his sheets, the angel pulled himself into his feathered cocoon, but found he could not sleep himself. He was oddly… troubled.

Stoic though he may be, he was also once human and not completely untouched by the sorrow of his charge. He had wished during his long vigil that he had been done with the boy, the Trial complete. He wanted to fly away back to Heaven and not endure the scene before him.

He felt intrusive for even witnessing it.

Now the devil, on the other hand, was another source of confusion all together. He had been truly shocked to see the shimmering tears of his opponent as his charge mourned. He had not expected the exuberant devil to be so… emotional. Heero frowned behind his feathers; in truth, Duo had been acting strange all day, so it could be nothing more than that, but somehow Heero didn't think so. The braided youth was upset, off-balance, and the angel suspected that he was becoming too attached to their charge.

He stopped, collected himself and with a small shake, tightened his wings about himself. It was absurd to even think about; he had more important things to consider. At the moment, his top priority was to sleep and be alert for anything that might come up next. Especially given that this case seemed to be full of surprises. Quatre only had one test left to complete, Heero told himself as he forced his breathing to even out, and then he was free to return to Heaven and leave the devil behind.

But for some reason he found the idea not as pleasing as it should have been, and once again wondered as the darkness claimed him why he even seemed to care.

The following morning, which in reality was a scant few hours after they had retired to sleep, the first sight that greeted his prussian irises as he pulled back his wings was the devil a small distance away, his own wings retreating, shirt rising high over his taught midriff as he stretched his arms over his head in a languid stretch, braid slightly mussed with tendrils hanging around his face and neck. A small part of his mind that he refused to acknowledge wondered if the devil's night was as restless as his own. But his attention shifted a moment later as Quatre proved true to his habits and flailed against his alarm just as the first note of noise began to sound. Heero frowned minutely, wondering why his charge even bothered with the contraption. The boy groaned, more fell out of bed than climbed out, and stumbled to the bathroom for his shower. Two sets of ethereal eyes followed the movements; Heero was almost sure that the boy managed it only by habit and memory, and what's more, given the brief look he shared with Duo as the door closed, he was rather sure his opponent felt the same.

He pushed it from his mind a moment later, standing up and shaking his wings out as he folded them precisely against his back. At least, he mused, the boy hadn't woken up groaning for painkillers for once. But then he caught himself on that thought, remembering how odd the occurrence was in the first place and his initial assertion to get more info on his Case, which he had yet to do. That was almost enough to make him frown as he turned his attention out the window to the brightening sky; he was slacking on his duty and that was unacceptable.

Such thoughts occupied him until he heard the door open as Quatre stepped back into the room, at which point he returned his attention to his charge as the teen began to dress and prepare for school. He gave a purely mental sigh, business as usual it seemed. The sinewy angel leaned his hips against the windowsill and waited patiently for his charge to finish and leave. For a moment, he stared at the back of the devil's head in thought, wondering at the fact that he had yet to speak a word. Not that Heero would ever claim to know better, but from what he had gathered Duo was a very energetic and talkative person. It struck him as odd, but as the blonde tiredly shuffled out of his room, bypassing the kitchen altogether in favor of leaving straightaway, he stubbornly reminded himself that he didn't _care_.

Even the trip to school was made in silence which, if he were to be honest with himself – and he didn't particularly want to be – was oppressive even to him. Normally, Heero enjoyed silence. It was genuinely hard to find and had always savored it when he had the chance. Wasn't it just recently that he was complaining to Wufei about how irritating his opponent was? Why then did this silence feel so… uncomfortable, then? He had what he wanted.

Heero stepped to the left to avoid walking into people that were walking in the opposite direction, which brought him closer to the devil himself that was walking behind Quatre to his other side. He almost flinched when his wing brushed against the other's shoulder, startling him and he immediately pulled the appendage back as tightly as he could. By reflex, it seemed, since he certainly didn't make any conscious decision to do so, he turned to look at the devil, getting caught in the wide cobalt gaze that stared back at him with confusion tinged with surprise. There was a question swimming in those eyes, and many other things as well except the teasing amusement he might have expected. Then lids fell briefly over the cobalt orbs as the devil blinked, momentarily breaking contact, and in that instant Heero sidestepped back to his original position and turned his head to face forward once more over the shoulder of the blonde teen.

Yes, things were certainly uncomfortable.

It was almost painful to endure the walk to his charge's school, for reasons he couldn't quite grasp. It wasn't just the silence. No, as his thoughts had already run this track before, he _liked_ silence. He was not at all adverse to the lack of dialog around him. It wasn't nerves, either, now that the Trial was drawing to a close with only one more test remaining to determine the charge's worthiness. He was not new to administering Trials and never before had such a thing caused such an unpleasant reaction as this in him. Although, in a very minor way it almost _did_ feel like anxiety, an almost foreboding feeling that something large and wholly unexpected was about to happen. But still that wasn't just it, there was something more troubling, he just couldn't place his finger on the source, or even the specific feelings being evoked. Everything felt so uncomfortably… oppressive. If Heero Yuy had been one to complain he'd likely have felt the urge to gripe; but he was known as a stoic angel for a reason, and even in the confines of his own mind he did not whine.

The three figures cut across the street, continued across the grass of the lawn rather than following the concrete path, and up the steps leading into the large building that contains years of seemingly torturous curriculums for a never-ending flow of children. . The devil tucked his wings in and darted through the door quickly after the blonde Heero followed as quickly as he could without bringing himself too near to the other's form. This hesitance only resulted instead in the door sliding shut over the long white primaries and clipping his left heel. It didn't actually close on him, ending in some comical scene of being stuck in a door with no one to see or help him but his rival, because just as with the living mortals his body could simply pass through the matter.

Unless he chose for it not to, of course, which was a rather intriguing concept Heero had contemplated in the past. He had wondered before, since the illogic of the idea had occurred to him after reading several stories of such immaterial beings, why was it that an ethereal body could pass through objects and solid matter but did not fall through the floor into the bowels of the earth, forever chained to the core by gravity? Or if gravity has no effect on these forms, why do they not float away or at least remain stationary? Then, after he died it occurred to him: mind over matter. No matter what they may be now, angels and devils alike, they were all raised as human and there are certain fundamental truths that the mind will always cling to. In this new life, an angel or devil's mind may know, or acknowledge that they can no longer interact with the world as they knew it. It's hard to deny such a truth when a person walks right through you or your hand slides through a tea cup. Be that as it may, no mind could ever consider the possibility of falling through the floor. The mind would never accept it so it never allows for the possibility.

After reaching this conclusion, Heero had decided to test his theory during a Trial and found that not only did it seem to be a plausible explanation but if he concentrated and really _thought_ about it, he could make himself solid against Earth matter. He wasn't sure if it worked with people, Heero hadn't been particularly eager to try touching people; he hadn't even liked being near people when he was alive.

The stolid angel broke from his musings as he once again edged quickly into the classroom along with Duo. Quatre was the same quiet and withdrawn figure he was since the morning as he held his bag and carefully avoided bumping into the seated students as he made his way to his own seat. He followed the dark wings in another path to the edge of the room and back to about level with the blonde's seat. As the braided devil took up his habitual stance against the wall, Heero noticed the frown marring the pale face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, watching under hooded eyes while he stood with his back to the wall and arms crossed over his chest. The devil didn't seem to react, and after a long silence Heero was almost tempted to ask again under the assumption that he hadn't been heard before, when the frown deepened and a quiet sigh heralded a response.

"Nothing. Something. I don't really know." He opened his eyes to see Duo shake his head a little, as though to clear it. "Doesn't something seem wrong to you?"

"Wrong?" he echoed, blinking at the cobalt eyes that turned to him, burning with something over that frown. He stopped, trying to think of that the devil could possibly be speaking of. It was a vague question to begin with and he struggled just to narrow down the possibilities first.

"With Quatre!" Duo prompted with a hint of exasperation. "Doesn't anything strike you as odd about him? Especially lately?" Still Heero did not answer, turning a pensive look instead towards the petit blonde sitting in the classroom school desk. He had to admit that he had been having similar thoughts just that morning, but nothing to the degree to warrant such worry.

"I'm not entirely sure I know what you mean…" he ventured at last, shifting his weight – and his wings – against the wall. Loathe though he was to admit it, the silence of late was suffocating and Heero was to the point of welcoming any respite, even in the form of converse with his opponent. So even though he wasn't particularly interested, the angel continued to reply and prompt for more discourse. "I admit that the boy is rather unusual, but I can't see why you are so concerned. Admittedly he is a bit more…" he stopped with a slight frown, searching for a word that would sufficiently describe the boy, but, coming up with nothing satisfactory settled for a simple "sensitive… than most others, but I hardly think that calls for alarm."

The devil's reaction, though, was a look of veiled contempt and Heero was quite sure the other was holding back a temper. "That's not what I mean!" Duo hissed "It's more than that! Haven't you noticed how strange he's being in the morning? How quiet he's been since this all started? Honestly, there's something not right!" When all the angel did was blink a few times, the braided one huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away.

Suddenly, Heero was amused. Without even trying it seemed he had managed to upset his opponent, which was a rather unexpected turn of events. He thought for a moment how to best take advantage of the situation and, with a grin, turned fully towards the oblivious devil. After all, turnabout was fair play, right?

The two were standing next to each other, so all Heero had to do was take one step closer to the other youth to be very close. Duo still didn't acknowledge his presence until he raised a hand to draw the tips of his fingers oh-so-gently up the bared arm, at which point he screeched out a yelp of surprise as he reflexively jumped away. Wide cobalt eyes stared at Heero and the angel was pleased to note that the leathery wings were quivering just slightly. Heero's grin widened a fraction more. Oh, he had wanted to startle the other teen, surely, but he hadn't expected the ploy to work quite so well.

"Something wrong?" he asked, with all sense of sincerity he could manage, as Duo's expression shifted towards anger. Heero waited, as the thinly pursed lips looked ready to burst out with another flood of irritated words, but instead the devil huffed again with visible effort and once more turned back towards the class.

And stopped dead, all expression and almost even color dropping from the face in an instant. The change was so drastic and so uncharacteristic that the angel immediately forgot his amusement in favor of a strange sense of concern. Confused – and the slightest bit worried, though he would not admit it – he tentatively called Duo's name. When that had no effect, he turned his head as well to follow that hazy gaze. Instantly he understood to some degree what the devil was feeling as he himself froze, shocked and confused.

Quatre was staring at them.


	11. Duo: Breaking Point

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Sorry for the longer period between updates. xx; I started school again this week and one of my classes (Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese) is brutal... I'm severely slacking on my kanji knowledge and out of practice at translations. I floundered horribly on my first assignment, so it's not boding well for this class. It's going to rape my soul this term, very badly. I'll do my best to keep writing and updating at a decent speed, but forewarning that if it slows down.. most likely class is killing me as I scream in frustration from spending hours looking up kanji indexes. Anyhu... enjoy the chapter!

**Apocryphal Reality: Breaking Point  
**

"He was staring at us." the devil hissed. Duo stood against the wall in Quatre's room with his eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest; no, not just crossed, rather wrapped around himself as though in some unconscious wish for comfort. He kept his wings pulled tightly against his back in a vain desire to hide his unease from the stolid angel he faced, who did not seem at all sympathetic to Duo's worries.

"You're being ridiculous," Heero said, in a manner that normally accompanies the rolling of eyes in less stoic people. "Quatre is mortal; he can't possibly see us so there's no way he could have been looking at us."

"But he was!" Duo protested again, gritting his teeth and feeling as though he was talking in circles. To a wall. "What else could he have been looking at, Heero?"

"The window?" he angel replied wryly, finally shifting and uttering a small sigh of impatience at the cold glare Duo aimed at him. "Will you stop this foolishness? Whatever proof you think you see is only a product of your imagination and nothing else. He cannot see us!"

"You... you… ARGH!" Duo finally burst out, tossing his arms in the air in exasperation. Even his wings unfurled a tiny degree in his agitation. "Can't you see what's right in front of your eyes? Don't you see that something is seriously strange here? Wrong, even? The boy isn't normal, none of this is normal, and I don't know how but I do know that somehow, someway, he saw us! Are you too blind to see anything that doesn't fit into your perfect sense of rules and what 'should be' to see it, you thrice-be-damned Angel?!"

"ENOUGH!" Heero roared, eyes dark and lips thinned into an angry line and wings spread so wide that part of the right wing passed through the wall, unheeded. Duo snarled but found even himself bowing under the sudden anger of his opponent. Clenching his jaw so tightly that it ached against the furious words bubbling up from his throat the devil glared at the magnificent form before him. In this, truly he looked the Beloved of God. "Enough of this nonsense!" the angel continued, voice seeming to boom in the darker boy's ears, "This Trial is almost over, get a hold of yourself and do your duty or you too shall be to blame if he Falls!"

That was enough, to be certain. With another angry hiss Duo flared to full height, his own wings unfurling to their own glorious span, "For all God's blessings, Heero Yuy, I swear you are the single most stubbornly pigheaded self-absorbed…" he paused, fumbling for something suitably appropriate for his opponent, but in his fury could think of nothing better than " …FOOL!!" The word came out as a screech, even to his own ears and at another time he would have been ashamed. The slim devil took a sadistic sense of pleasure out of watching the rising anger on the angel's features. Just as the taught lips parted for another angry retort, a third voice invaded the tension.

"**_SHUT UP!!!_**" it screamed, a voice so wrought with suffering that prussian and cobalt blues became framed by an ocean of white as eyes widened in a moment of horrified understanding. As one, as though pulled uncontrollably by a puppet master's strings, the pair jerked their heads to the side, towards the direction of their charge's bed. There sat Quatre, huddled in a ball with his legs drawn tightly up to his chest and his face buried in his knees, hands gripping the sides of his head in fists so tight that some barely-rational part of Duo's mind worried that he would rip his own golden locks out. "Shut up shut up shut up!!" the boy continued to scream, the demand degrading into a wailing plea, further into a nearly incoherent whimper as he rocked fretfully in place.

"What is he–?" Duo began to ask, slowly in a voice barely above a whisper that quivered in something that, if he had the sense to think he might have recognized as fear. His query, though, was almost immediately interrupted by another screeching demand for silence from his charge.

"Just shut up!" Quatre pleaded, voice thick with tears, "Why won't you just go away and leave me alone?! Why do you keep following me every moment of every day, always there. Always! I can't take it anymore! Why do you keep haunting me?" if the boy said more, Duo was unable to decipher the words past the sobs wracking the blonde's frame with every breath. With a heavy heart and soul quivering just as much as his own ethereal form, Duo reached out to grasp the silent angel's wrist, tugging insistently for attention and then jerking his head roughly over his shoulder towards the window. Confusion showed first in the dark prussian and by the time understanding dawned with a minute nod the devil had already Shifted outside, standing on a thick branch of the tree outside with one hand resting shakily against the trunk. Duo sincerely hoped that he was far enough away to give his charge a little peace, but he could go no farther without losing sight – at least this way he could still observe through the window.

"He's an Empath," Duo stated immediately once the angel joined him in the tree, not even giving the other a chance to speak. _How could I have been so blind?_ The braided devil berated himself, feeling fault for such an amazingly large oversight. _I should have known, I should have noticed something was going on! If only I hadn't been so distracted by – _The thought was left unfinished as a voice disturbed his inner turmoil. "Wh-what?"

"Explain!" Heero demanded again, growing impatient and feathers twitching nervously. "What do you mean he's an empath? That's not possible!"

"Think about it!" Duo hissed in reply, unreasonably angry at his opponent for being so dense. "What else could possibly explain this? Why does he sense the alarm before it goes off in the morning? Why do you think he's so fidgety lately, huh? Who do you think he was just screaming at, Heero? Us! He knows we're here!"

"That's not possible!"

"Then explain to me what just happened!"

The pair stopped, angel ridged as stone and Duo himself quivering under barely controlled strain. Neither spoke for a minute, though that minute seemed to stretch like an eternity full of wild whirling thoughts, so hard to understand or keep clear but impossible to ignore nonetheless. Prominent in the devil's thoughts, though, were simply _What have we done to him?_

"With nothing more than our presence we're interfering with him, Heero, you have to see that. We're not echoing thoughts in his subconscious, like we should be. He _knows_ that we're here and that's not normal. How can he have a fair Trial under conditions like this?"

"Then what are you suggesting we do, devil?" the dark haired angel asked, assuming a veneer of calm that Duo knew was as forced as his own. "What's done is done, and we have a mission to do. Do you think we can just quit? Walk away and leave the boy be without Judgment? Do you think we could return like that? There's nothing we can do, now."

"I know that!" he barked back, then forced himself back into some semblance of calm, "I know that, dammit. But we can't just pretend this case is business as usual, either. We have been… woefully under-informed." Duo sighed, wings drooping until the tips sagged against the branch he stood on.

"Agreed," Heero murmured with a nod, "Perhaps we should keep more of a distance; keep interference to a minimum until the last test passes. Maybe even –"

At that point the dark devil completely tuned the angel out, attention drawn full force past the pristine white plumage as a flash of light happened to reflect in his cobalt eyes in one precious instant.

Duo almost felt himself go cold, if only out of memory of how it would feel in a circumstance such as this. His ethereal heart skipped a proverbial beat and sudden vertigo had him clutching reflexively at the rough bark that should have been under his palm but wasn't, quite. It was just an instant; a long, horrified instant where his body froze, even thought locked up in a sudden rush of fear, throat tight against the outburst that was clawing its way to freedom until it burst free in a scream that might have burned his vocal cords raw if he still had any to damage.

"_QUATRE!!!_"

* * *

konpeitou: These chapters seem so much longer in Word than when I post them x.o Reviews are muchly loved and appreciated, as it reminds me to keep writing when I want to otherwise beat my head against a wall from school stress. n.n;; 


	12. Heero: Unforgivable Sin

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Honestly, I've been trying to upload this for three or four days now and kept getting errors o-o; So.. sorry for the delay but it wasn't my fault! Enjoy the update, I must return to translating a terribly boring book ::sigh::

**Apocryphal Reality: Unforgivable Sin  
**

In barely a blink the devil was gone and for the briefest instant Heero was shocked at the abrupt departure. But in the next second he twisted to look back towards the room where his opponent was gazing momentarily and saw that he had returned to the small room. He stifled a bit of irritation at that; didn't they just leave to get _away_ from the boy? Nevertheless he followed the other back inside and took in the situation with a careful and precise eye.

Duo was hovering near the bed's edge – not literally, of course, but more in the manner of someone extremely anxious – hands alternately reaching out as though to attempt comfort or wringing in obvious restraint. The dark form all but hummed with stress as he continually shifted weight. One pale lip was caught by a rather sharp canine that would likely draw blood with much more worrying, but Heero guessed it was an attempt to keep himself quiet more than anything. Their charge was still in the same position as he had been when they had Jumped away only moments before. If anything, he seemed to have shrunk in on himself even more until it was a wonder the teen could take up so little space. The angel frowned minutely, just a barest tug downwards of the corners of his mouth, but a frown all the same because he could not see anything to warrant his opponent's erratic behavior.

He took a step closer, noting that the boy seemed to cringe at the movement, and it was only when he was within reach of the two figures that he saw the lamplight reflecting under the blonde's bicep, just above his elbow. A very unsettling feeling churned his stomach at what his instincts told him was making that reflection, and he hoped – somehow, even though he shouldn't – that he would be wrong. Heero turned towards the devil with an eye still on his charge. "What– ?" he began, barely a whisper of breath, but the look of horror the braided teen turned on him was enough to stop him in his tracks.

"_GET AWAY FROM ME!!!_" Quatre screamed again before could even open his mouth, let alone form a thought! The screech was so resoundingly audible that the small fragment in one's brain that somehow continues to take note on little inconsequential things when all the rest of the mind just wants to shut down realized that the boy's sister surely couldn't be home or else she'd surely have been breaking in the door by now. Really, the more important thing that should have been noticed was that the petite blonde had uncurled abruptly with this latest outburst, one arm swinging out in a wide arc as the other supported him in his lunge. Heero blinked twice in surprise, looking down at his midriff in disbelief before flicking his gaze back up to the young boy. He was staring at them, now, though not exactly because although he faced the direction of his two unwanted companions his watery eyes jumped wildly around, as though searching for something he knew was there but couldn't see. The blade flashed in his outstretched hand as he panted, still crouched and shaking on the bed. The angel couldn't help looking back down at his belly, knowing that if he had still lived, Quatre would have just eviscerated both him and his opponent with that blade.

_Well now,_ Heero thought dryly, _that was unexpected._

Then Quatre was moving again, babbling through his hiccupping tears, and the heavy feeling in the pit of Heero's stomach doubled in size even as he felt the devil clutch at his wrist in a claw-like grip.

"What do you want from me?" the blonde wailed, rocking himself in jerky movements as his body shook. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Leave me alone!" He sucked in a rasping breath, falling silent long enough to get some semblance of control. "Is this what you want?" he finally asked, quietly, brokenly, and with a sudden flash of understanding Heero _knew_ what was going on.

"NO!!" Duo cried out, seemingly reaching the same conclusion as Heero himself had. With an internal wince the prussian eyed angel snapped his wrist free from the other's grasp and snatched back instead, tugging the slender teen with him as he stumbled back and away, didn't stop until the desk corner passed through his hips and his wings began to brush the corner walls. Duo continued to struggle against Heero's grip and the normally stoic angel snarled quietly in exasperation, yanking tightly to knock his opponent off balance and catching him up in a circle of wiry arms.

"Stop it!" he hissed urgently, pressing himself closer to the boy's ear even as the leathery black wing flailed against him, trying to break free.

"We have to stop him! Let me go! This is our fault!"

"Shut up, curse you! You're making it worse!" That, finally, shocked the frantically struggling devil into stillness. Not risking loosening his grip quite yet, Heero grasped his own arms in a firm hold and returned nearly-full attention to his charge across the room. The boy was still the same as he had been when he had moved away only moments before, shaking on the bed with his attention focused on his hands. But his weren't the only eyes riveted on those shuddering appendages. Two sets of blue stared unblinkingly at a pale wrist moist with fallen tears and the fear made solid in the form of a finely honed slip of steel housed in mother of pearl that shook with every shuddering breath the small blonde took.

"This is our fault." Duo repeated in a dry whisper, sagging in his captor's grasp as though he no longer had the will to keep himself up. "Look what we've done, Heero. Look at him… we're driving him _insane_!" This time, the angel couldn't bring himself to deny the claim. This was out of control, far beyond anything that should be happening. The fact that he had been grossly under-informed about this case was now a moot point, he now had to do something he found himself woefully unprepared to do; he had to wing it.

"Is this what you want?" Quatre whispered hoarsely again, "Will this make you stop?!" The blade moved closer, shaking even as the boy tried to steady himself, lamplight reflected eerily off the blade in an almost hypnotic slow strobe. The devil moved to break free again and with a silent curse he tightened his arms, numbly sure that he might be causing pain but beyond the point of caring.

"Listen to me. Listen to me!" he hissed past caramelized wisps into the pale shell of his opponent's ear, still keeping his eyes on their mutual charge as he willed the devil to listen. "You have to listen to me. I'm willing to concede to the possibility that you're right about the boy, but if you are… if you're right then all you're doing right now is making things worse." He felt the other gasp, open his mouth as though to speak but plowed forward before he had the chance. "Think about it. You said he's an empath, right?" When no answer was forthcoming he shook the slim figure within his arms, "Right?"

"Yes," Duo gasped with a nod, eyes still locked at the figure on the bed as he alternately moved the knife closer to and farther from his wrist. "He's always been strange. It's the only explanation that makes sense."

"Fine. Then think about this. He's not hearing us, he's _sensing_ us here, in this room. He feels us. That's what an empath does, right? Think about what you're making him feel right now!" There was a moment of silence as the words failed to make sense, then with a jolt that made the slim body go ridged it sank in – or so Heero assumed.

"Oh no…"

Heero didn't bother to quiet him again. "Calm down. Get a hold of yourself or if he falls it'll be on _your_ head, devil." With that statement he finally loosed his arms and allowed his opponent to stumble free, fairly sure that he could control himself. Baleful cobalt eyes stared at him from under a fringe of bangs.

"What are you playing at, here? I thought angels wanted their charges to Fall."

Heero was quiet a long moment, thinking of the things he could say, but realized it would be futile to argue his points. He wasn't in the mood to explain, so just glared. "It isn't fair." The braided devil looked like he wanted to push the subject but Heero snapped an arm out to point towards the bed. "Pay attention because I'm only going to say this once. We can either go on playing conscience like this empathy or whatever it is doesn't mean anything, or we can accept that this is a unique case and modify our behavior accordingly. You choose."

The angry outburst seemed to affect Quatre, even from across the room – which really wasn't all that surprising if the boy truly had sensed them all this time, always in the room somewhere. Duo turned away abruptly with a small huff, sending his braid swishing against his back and the ribbons trailing along his thighs. "What do you propose, angel?" he bit out at last, still keeping his eyes to the bed.

"Simple. Leave him alone. Hear me out and stop interrupting! If you're right and we're the cause of this, if he's doing this because we're here, we've already done our job, right? Let's make this a true test. Let's let him decide for himself whether or not he goes through with it."

"But–"

"If you do anything, you'll make it worse. You'll work my side. Are you willing to do that?" Heero pressed on over the weak protest. In truth, he didn't know what to do. In truth he should be trying even now to condemn the boy. In truth he wasn't doing his job. But… in truth he couldn't bring himself to cause this.

"But suicide is an Unforgivable Sin." Duo protested quietly. "I can't leave him to…"

"Then you will condemn him." It was the truth, he wasn't sure how he knew – having no prior experience with anything of this sort – but instinct told him he was right even as he said it. "The damage is done; it's up to him what happens now." Black wings wilted in defeat and honey-toned locks bounced as he nodded acquiescence. Heero eyed the devil a moment longer then, deciding that he wasn't going to do anything rash, turned his attention away. He crossed his arms over his chest, shifted his legs apart into a wider stance, and closed his eyes as he let his head droop almost enough that his chin touched his chest. Each breath was calculated, slow and even, concentrating on the simple relaxation exercise. Feel each breath as it entered the body, don't follow it in through the system but stop just as it entered. Hold it a moment, deep inside, and release it slowly and feel it pass by once more. It was a technique he was so accustomed to that Heero didn't even realize his attention had narrowed down to that one simple thought – _breathe_ – until something else intruded on his perception.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Duo hissed lowly, a fierce glare meeting Heero's eyes as they opened in surprise at the interruption. "You're going to take a nap at a time like this?" For the first time in a long time, the angel had the supreme urge to hurt someone.

"What are _you_ doing?" he countered, glaring angrily and trying to keep his temper. "You're the one who realized he's an empathy, stop for a minute and think about that means, will you?" He lashed an arm out to point at Quatre's huddled, whimpering figure, almost hitting the devil in the process and not caring one bit. "He's _FEELING_ us you halfwit! You can stand there and let him feel all this anger and anxiety, but personally I'd rather calm down and project something a little more soothing. Do what you want, but let me meditate!" With that he jerked his arm back to himself and settled back in his previous position, only with eyes half-lidded to watch the devil's reaction.

Duo recoiled as though he had been slapped, mouth gaping soundlessly a few times before he craned to look at Quatre as though to verify that the words were true. After a moment a low, pained keen broke from his throat and the slim boy wilted. There was no other word Heero could think of to describe the way his opponent simply collapsed bonelessly on the floor in a broken heap.

"Feeling guilty isn't helping him," Heero whispered, taking pity on the figure. "Just relax, don't think about him. Think of something calming. The ocean, birds, sunset, something…" Not that he was following his own advice, as he was using a meditation technique, but he at least figured these more typical strategies would be more productive than trying to teach Heero's own methods at the moment. Caramel colored tresses bounced dejectedly as the devil nodded, followed by a series of deep breaths. After a few moments of covert watch, Heero turned his attention back to his own meditations, satisfied.

_It's up to him, now_…

* * *

konpeitou: Yeah I know, you're going to hurt me xD I switch perspectives a lot in this part of the story. Provided translations don't make my brain explode and that doesn't throw more errors at me, I'll try to get the next one out sooner. Feed my starving ego and review?  



	13. Duo: Happy Thoughts

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: So hopefully has gotten over its spazzy time and this will be going up without a hitch. Sorry for the delays and whatnot, between the site giving me trouble and yesterday I had the Midterm from Hell (which I am entirely sure that I failed, goodbai at least 10percent of my overall grade!) I didn't have a whole lot of time to think about this.

**Apocryphal Reality: Happy Thoughts  
**

Duo was shivering with the effort to control himself. He knew that Heero was right, he knew it, and that's what made it so much harder to stay calm. He had to or else it would be his fault that Quatre cracked, and there was no way he could face Trowa knowing that it was his fault this charge would Fall. The pressure was so much and he struggled with each breath not to let it carry over. _Oceans!_ he scoffed mentally, failing again to summon enough of an image to relax himself. Duo didn't have time for failure, so he resorted instead to his own tactic. What's the best way to avoid thinking about something?

Think of something else.

_Think happy thoughts_ he told himself, ignoring any humor normally in the statement. _Happy thoughts_… A small wistful smile pulled at his lips at the memory that sprang to mind. Back when he was alive, living as a nameless urchin with a serious case of sticky fingers. Like all children he thought that being caught and forced to listen to guardians was a form of punishment, but he'd come to appreciate the kind Priest and Nun who had taken him in. Memories of Father Maxwell's sermons, his elderly voice droning in a kindly way that sometimes put his younger self to sleep, but not from boredom so much as the inherent soothingness of his voice. Even now, he could almost hear that nostalgic voice and something near the vicinity of Duo's heart spasmed. The book would close with an audible thud, Duo would snap to attention, momentarily disoriented, to find the Father smiling at him in fond amusement. He would smile sheepishly at the old man, earning a friendly pat on the head for his trouble. Then there was Sister Helen, the woman who felt more like a mother than a sister, despite her relatively young age. In his rebellion, he would still get into fights with other children and landing himself in trouble. She would frown for a moment, tsking at him for his misdeeds and in that single act make him feel ashamed for whatever he had done. Ashamed to have brought that disapproval to her features, directed at him, and always he vowed to himself not to do it again. Then she would smile, crouch down with arms wide to welcome him into a hug that seemed to keep the world away. Her alto voice would hum soothingly as she rocked him gently and Duo always felt like he was home. She had laughed teasingly about his hair, fussed guiltily over his tears when he began to cry for her teasing, and offered to care for it herself. Sister Helen taught him to braid his hair, helped him care for it, and suddenly it didn't feel like such a silly thing to treasure. It was something they shared, from then on.

_It's a good thing they found me_, Duo thought as he breathed deeply, focusing on these memories. _I was such a monster before I'd have failed a Trial before it even started. They saved me._ The fond gratitude he felt towards the pair that raised him took on a bitter tinge. _I still Failed, though. I wonder what they'd think of me if they knew. _He could well imagine, though. Father Maxwell would smile weakly, pain and guilt reflecting in his weathered eyes, wanting to take responsibility for one of his 'children' failing. 'Oh Duo' Sister Helen would say with a watery smile, taking on any hurt she felt he must feel for being denied the Heavens. They wouldn't blame him, but would be saddened, and Duo knew that he would cry more for having hurt them than for his own afterlife.

Perhaps it was better that he had not seen them since…

Duo tried to force his thoughts back onto a more pleasant track when the angel hissed urgently above him. He looked up, followed the prussian eyes towards the bed with bated breath afraid of what he would see. Air left him in a rush as he saw Quatre sitting on the bed, the knife set harmlessly aside on the nightstand and instead clutching a picture frame to his chest like a lifeline as he sobbed quietly.

"He did it," he breathed, hardly daring to believe that it was over. It was over! "He passed!" he crowed, leaping up and throwing his arms around Heero in sudden heady exultance. The sudden choked gasp that echoed past his ear barely garnered enough attention to get Duo to step back before he was shoved. The devil spun in place, wings humming through the air while the braid curled around his waist. "That was the third test, Quatre Passed the Trial!"

"Hey devil, calm down a second will you?" the calmly irritated voice broke past his joy and Duo stopped in place, smiling expectantly at his opponent. Heero seemed to study him for a long moment, brows drawn and expression pained as though he were debating something unpleasant with himself. His own smile faded as the silence stretched uncomfortably. "That other one, the boy's friend…. Get him."

"Trowa?" Duo asked after a second, confused. Heero simply nodded. "But… you said it yourself; you can't have two devils on one trial." A spark of thought made him angry. "I'm not going to sacrifice him so you can call this trial Void!"

"Of course not, don't be stupid!" the angel scoffed, affronted. "I didn't say anything before and I'm certainly not going to be so underhanded as to sabotage. It's just…" Heero sighed, raking a hand through his hair in a rare show of nerves. "He's miserable, he deserves to feel something more than… more than _us_. I figured that other one could help him." Duo still wasn't convinced, and gave the best skeptical look he could manage. Heero glared back. "Fine, don't do it. I was trying to help him is all. Do what you want, devil."

"I'm sorry," Duo whispered back sheepishly, genuinely sorry to have doubted the other teen. "I trust you." He stood for a moment, wanting to act but hesitating. With an internal shake he pushed himself forward, unwilling to back down, and wrapped his arms once more around the stern angel. Ignoring the voice that cried happily at this action, ignoring the feel of the wiry figure in his arms and most of all ignoring how he felt about it all, he held on for a brief moment, whispered "Thank you," into the tan neck and Shifted back to Hell before the other could react. Despite the situation, he smiled even as he shivered with the aftereffects of the stress as he flitted through domains for his friend's personal niche. Not a glance was spared for the dual-toned scenery, gliding deftly to the central bird swing. He didn't even bother to properly land, merely propelled himself against the swing bar and clutched it to put himself at a lurching stop. Trowa looked up at him, blinked in pure dumbfounded surprise, but Duo grinned cheekily and didn't give him the chance to question. "You, come with me again. Don't ask, just do. Now. Chop chop."

Despite his abrupt words, the look of unalloyed confusion Trowa was tossing at him piggyback an annoyed glare really left Duo uncertain that the other boy would follow him this time. He didn't wait, just Shifted from his precarious perch and hoped that his friend would join him.

He did.

"Duo, what…? I don't understand…" The confusion was edged with worry.

"Well, you see… the thing is Trowa…" Duo trailed off timidly, unsure how to begin to explain why he had pulled him here. He almost gasped in surprise when the angel's voice spoke up to interrupt him.

"You are needed," the other said simply, "That boy is an Empath."

Trowa blinked a couple times and waited. Green eyes shifted between the two, waiting for more, but when none was forthcoming he cocked his head to the side with a small frown. "Yeah, so?"

_Did Heero just_ hiss_ at that?_ Duo wondered, developing an urge to escape this situation entirely. _Dammit I want my vacation_…

"If you know _that_ then this should be simple. I believe that Quatre needs your help right now, to feel something other than…" he tossed his hand vaguely "us. Help or don't, but be assured this incident will not be reported and thus will have no impact on his Trial."

Trowa raised a brow skeptically, but rather than question the angel directly he turned instead to his friend for confirmation. Duo nodded with a one-shouldered shrug and made a vague shooing motion towards the bed. Apparently he didn't need to be told twice, one last look at the angel and Trowa stepped over to the bed. He crooned soothingly as he climbed atop the bed beside the blonde, carefully wrapping first arms then wings around the living boy, giving the illusion of holding even though they couldn't touch. Quatre choked up a sob born of sorrow and relief before he slowly began to settle into Trowa's soothing presence.

He couldn't take it, the scene felt too private to watch and Duo Shifted away, outside back on the tree limb that was quickly becoming a usual retreat for him. He didn't care, not anymore, not now that the Trial was over – or nearly so. The devil wrapped his arms about himself, briskly rubbing his biceps in a fruitless attempt at self-comfort. Shivers that had been plaguing him since the mess this night had begun had still yet to abate, which was not helping his current state of mind nor his attempt to stay calm. _It's over_, he told himself, but still he was wound as tight as spring and for the life of him couldn't figure out why. _There's nothing to be getting so worked up over, so why can't I just calm down already?_ Frustration began to build in him at himself but it couldn't overpower the stress that was unreasonably making him want to just cry. He wouldn't of course, he refused to break down, but feeling so close was making him angry and frustrated. _This is why we're supposed to get vacations _he mused bitterly.

"Are you all right?" The voice, as well as the tentative touch to his shoulder, made Duo jerk with a strangled yelp, surprised nearly out of his skin. The angel watched him coolly as he slowly withdrew his hand.

"You know what? No, dammit, I am _not_ all right," he snapped back before he could stop himself. It opened the gate to let loose his frustrations and he snarled darkly. "This Trial is a mess and I'm going mad from all this. Everything is driving me crazy, which of course is making the boy go crazy too and THAT'S certainly counterproductive to what I came here to do. I'm overworked and overstressed with a complicated case, a boy who practically defies logic, and an opponent that – " He stopped his rant abruptly, snapping his mouth shut and clenching his jaw so hard against further outburst that his teeth ached. Blue eyes narrowed at him and Duo was hart put to tell if it was anger behind them.

"That what?" Heero prompted, crossing his arms over his chest. The other figure's whole poster demanded an answer and the braided youth kicked himself mentally for the slip-up. "An opponent that what?"

"Nothing," the devil growled, "Forget it."

"I will not. Say what you were going to say about me."

"I said it's nothing, so forget about it already!" Duo felt his nerves getting worked up again from this argument and subconsciously held himself tighter. Suddenly, though, he was there. Closer and invading his personal space in a way the angel never had before and his whole body shivered in reaction to the proximity. Heero's eyes studied his face, expression unreadable, and Duo licked his lips in the silence. He was torn, unbearably so, his usual control shredded beyond repair at the moment and his mind cried to flee this confrontation while his body strained closer. He cursed his perpetual teenage hormones as he ached to move closer, to close the gap between their bodies and press himself against that muscular frame. At that moment he desired nothing more than to pull the infuriating angel into a furious kiss, to vent all this searing frustrated energy by banging the other until they were both senseless. Only a thin line of cobalt lined the dilated pupils that watched the thin line of lips before him, entranced. They were right there, so close… so…

"Why do you hate angels so much? Or is it just me…" the quiet question broke the standstill in his mind and Duo physically as well as mentally recoiled. For a moment he could just stand there, stunned, with his mouth hanging open slightly as he stared at his opponent before him. _Hate him? Oh god, he doesn't know anything_…

Duo laughed. It was a hollow and brittle sound that bordered on hysteria and the prussian eyes narrowed further. He had to get away, he was losing control and he knew it. _Trowa can handle the kid tonight_, he rationalized. He calmed himself to a bitter chuckle, stepping back and reclining his head to stare up at the speckled sky through the boughs – anywhere but at the angel standing too close to him.

"Why is it," he mused, as though asking the stars above, "That you can be so delightfully complex and yet… you don't even realize how desirable you are." He didn't wait, the second the words passed his lips he Shifted back to his niche in hell, collapsing on his black-thread hammock in a ball. _Idiot_, he berated himself _I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have slipped, I still have to face him tomorrow and until Quatre's fatal moment passes. Idiot. _

Dark wings furled around his form in a leathery cocoon and he tried desperately to sleep and forget the mess that everything had become. The dark devil was not looking forward to morning, not in the slightest.

* * *

konpeitou: Argh, I hate school. Reading a very very boring Japanese book isn't conductive to staying sane, or relatively so. I'm still trying to keep up with this story anyway, so comments are always much loved (and make the sacrifice of ignoring homework a little more palatable). And thus, back to the translating, huzzah x.x 


	14. Heero: Food For Thought

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Wow, I hadn't realized how much time had passed. Sorry! School has been killing me, and I had a convention that I needed to rush costumes for. Rushing is not such a good thing, I ended up with many burns and bruises for my haste. And now have Finals coming up ::sigh:: Oh how I hate my school. At any rate, another little chapter. Enjoy

**Apocryphal Reality: Food For Thought**

Heero Yuy felt completely pole-axed and entirely unsure what exactly had just happened. He couldn't have been more surprised if a cross-dressing midget had blindsided him with a two-by-four while singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time". The angel slowly sank down to sit on the broad tree limb, letting one leg hang over while the other was drawn up with his arm draped across it. Unconsciously he bit his lip, worrying at the tender flesh between his pearly white teeth as he tried to make sense of whatever had just occurred. First his opponent had been overly friendly and flirty, then increasingly withdrawn. Tonight alone he seemed to flip between states of mind with disturbing frequency, which alone was enough to be frustrating, but the final moment before the devil fled – Heero was absolutely sure that the sudden disappearance was a retreat – was difficult to wrap his mind around.

The devil had been upset, and although he couldn't explain why he made the effort to try to help Heero had made an overture that was not only rebuffed, but had somehow turned into a near-attack on himself. He had gotten angry at the insinuation, naturally, perhaps more than he's like to admit for reasons he'd rather not think about but instead of a retaliation to his prompting his opponent had just… stopped. Stood there and stared with a faraway look. He had wondered, in that silence, what the devil was going to say about him and nothing he came up with was pleasant. So he had asked up front why he hated him. The possibility had been… upsetting, which in turn made him more upset for getting upset in the first place. He expected to get the answer to his question, he expected the devil to snap just why he hated him – or angels in general – but never would he have expected the wounded look he had received. Heero had wanted to apologize, feeling somehow like he had just kicked a puppy, but was too speechless to do so. Instead of a scathing attack, he was given a compliment. A _compliment_ from a devil with a curious undertone of hurt and need that left the prussian-eyed youth dizzy.

_What the hell is going on here?_ Heero couldn't help but wonder. There was more to this than the braided teen's actions, he knew, but he had never been particularly good with his emotions and as much as it turned his stomach he wasn't very fond of delving into them now. If he would, though, he would come to realize that his interest in his opponent was stretching past the lines of curiosity into something entirely different by far.

"Thank you," a quiet voice demurred, breaking into Heero's thoughts. He looked up to see the taller devil joining him on the branch.

"Think nothing of it. I assume that he has calmed down now?" Trowa nodded affirmative. "Thank you as well for your assistance." He hoped with that the other devil would leave him once more in peace. The wish was not granted.

"It was my pleasure, I assure you. If this was your idea I assume you know that Quatre is – was – my best friend. I would do anything for him. I am grateful that you wanted to help him, I was under the impression that angels didn't work that way."

"Is that so?" Heero barked a laugh, shaking his head a little. "I suppose that's true, I'd be in as much trouble as anyone else for this. That is why I'd rather just keep it our little secret, I'm sure you would agree." Again Trowa nodded his agreement, but rather than leave he sank down to sit cross-legged on the limb. Heero resigned himself to his loss of privacy to think.

"Do you regret it?" the taller figure asked after a long moment, "Do you regret calling me here to help Quatre? You seem like something is troubling you…"

"That's not it, devil. I could not stand to be so heartless to the boy no matter what you may think of me." Another silence descended and Heero shifted his wings into a more comfortable position, sacrificing posture and simply letting them drape over either side of the branch.

"Forgive me if this is impertinent and I'm sorry if I miss my guess, but I must ask you not to think too badly of Duo. I know he can be a handful at the best of times, but he is a good person and means no harm. If he has upset you somehow, please do not hold it against him, I'm sure it wasn't on purpose."

"He's not –" the angel began, only to stop with a sigh. Denying it would only make himself seem more suspicious and there was no real point anyway. He reached up and absently fiddled with a couple leaves while he thought. _What have a got to lose? Soon this will be over and I will likely never see either of them again_. "Suppose you are in part correct. Would you mind answering something for me, though?" Heero didn't, of course, acknowledge the reasoning that if he was never to see them again then there was also no point in bothering to clarify. He continued hesitantly when the devil agreed. "Do you devils hate us so much?"

A single jade eye blinked in surprise. "I can't speak for everyone, of course, but I don't believe that devils as a whole hate angels. We simply… resent you for what you do. After all, you try to condemn people to Hell, an unpleasant fate unless one manages to be a devil rather than a demon. I doubt you realize what a rare breed we are. I must say though that I do not envy you if you've managed to get on Duo's unpleasant side. No mean feat nor a pleasant place to be, I'm told."

Somehow that dry-voiced explanation only made him more confused, as well as frustrated. "I couldn't tell you," he sighed with a hint of bitterness that surprised him as he ripped off a leaf and began threading it distractedly through his fingers. "That friend of yours is bipolar at the least; I do not think it is possible to understand how he feels or what he thinks without extreme mental suffering for the attempt."

"Duo?!" Trowa barked a laugh, tilting his head back in his sudden mirth. "Surely you jest! That one is easy to read if you know how to look. Duo is kind and honest to a fault, and I mean that quite literally: he will not lie. He keeps himself to such standards that very little effort is needed to get him to show you all you need to know, whether he knows or likes it or not." Heero frowned, not convinced of such simplicity given everything he had seen and endured with his opponent over the past weeks. Trowa just smiled understandingly. "There are others that know Duo better than myself, but if you wish to talk I can try to help understand whatever it is about the braided ball of energy that's confusing you, hm?"

Heero hesitated, dropping the leaf to brush stray bangs out of his eyes while he contemplated the offer. He wasn't fond of the proposition of opening up to anyone, let alone to a devil he didn't know. _Then again, what does it matter at this point?_ So he gave in, told this other devil a quick and edited version of events. He felt stupid for asking, for opening up, and most of all he hated that he even cared for any reason enough to let the matter bother him. When he finished the short recap, Trowa shook his head slowly, any hint of a smile gone from his features.

"It is not my place to say, if you have not figured it out for yourself, but I can say this; Duo doesn't hate you, and I believe you are jumping to conclusions about him if that is what you think. I suggest you speak to him yourself to get the answers you really want." He stood abruptly, surprisingly graceful in one fluid movement, and cocked his head to the side. "One last thing I'd like to say and I beg you please keep this in mind," Trowa spread his arms as though to welcome him into a secret "demons are demons but devils are only fallen angels." With that final tidbit the tall devil Shifted away, to the room or to Hell Heero neither knew nor cared. He turned that morsel around in his head as he contemplated what information he had gleaned, as well as what he had heard from his opponent himself prior.

_Fallen angels, huh? Interesting_…

* * *

The following day, mere hours after their retirement to restless slumber really, proved to be as awkward and uncomfortable as Heero had come to suspect it would be. His opponent returned in the early morning before Quatre woke up, actually sleeping long enough to let the alarm go off for a change. Heero himself hadn't bothered to sleep, figuring the few remaining hours weren't worth the effort, so he was awake at Duo's abrupt return. The usually exuberant figure was quiet and subdued, moving with slow lethargy and pointedly avoiding looking his angel companion. Heero was aware of this because he had kept a steady though furtive prussian gaze on the slender braided form since the moment of his reappearance. 

He should be glad, right? The thoughts churned in his head like a wheel in a rut, constantly circling but never progressing, as they waited for their charge to dress and leave for school. He should be glad, it's what he had wanted from the beginning; for the devil to leave him alone. He'd said as much to Wufei, even so far as to vent frustrations over his opponent. He wanted to be let alone, and yet…

_And yet_… the thoughts circled ceaselessly. Duo paced slowly at the opposite end of the room, eyes downcast and arms wrapped subconsciously around his own black-clad form. Even his hair and wings seemed to droop with an unexpected lifelessness. Still he never looked up. _And yet_… The wheels turned, moved an inch and struggled not to fall back. _Somehow I don't want this at all_… Heero followed his charge and opponent out the door and out of the house, following the streets that were becoming familiar in their habitual routine, and he refused to acknowledge the ache in the pit of his stomach at the silence.

_This is all so wrong_…

The day was long and progressed almost painfully slow, and by the end of school it became apparent even to Heero that the tense atmosphere around them was once more affecting the young blonde. It was becoming an eerie repeat of the previous day and a part of him, a part he tried to deny as unfitting to the job, began to fear that they really would push the kid to suicide. It was his job to try to get mortals to condemn themselves, to make them prove their worth in the eyes of God, but he _knew_ with utmost certainty that his boy deserved Heaven. He was innocent to an amazing degree and Heero knew that he did not belong in Hell any more than fish belonged in the air. It just wasn't right, and it didn't sit well with him to drive the boy to something he was so obviously unsuited for. For that brief moment, as he stared at the bowed blonde head, the pale face nearly translucent and drawn with lines of stress, Heero felt ashamed for what he did.

The angel was strangely relieved to see Trowa perched discreetly on the tree outside Quatre's window when they once more returned to the quaint abode. Duo froze at the sight, like a deer in the proverbial headlights, jerking slightly as though he were going to finally turn those cobalt orbs upon Heero's form, only jerk back just as quickly, obviously avoiding him. The taller brunette outside watched them both with wary emerald eyes, posture calm but eyes alone conveying his obvious hesitance. One tan hand brushed at errant bangs with a purely internal sigh before gesturing briskly for the other devil to come inside the room. Heero didn't wait for him, just turned abruptly towards the corner wall – the same corner he had dragged Duo to a nagging little voice reminded him – and leaned against the wall with arms and legs crossed, weight on his shoulders against a wall that shouldn't even hold him, and thought enough about it that when he leaned his head back he felt the satisfying _thud_ of impact.

"Just stay," he told the air dryly, eyes closed against looking at either of them; he didn't want to look at the troubled braided devil that made him ache nor the other's strangely knowing gaze and slight smile. "Might as well have someone around that won't drive him insane."

Heero didn't want to see someone as kind and sweet as Quatre die in the prime of his life, he really didn't, so he swallowed the guilt he felt at hoping that the time would come quickly and everything could finally _end_.


	15. Duo: Gee, Thanks Guys

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Argh, how I hate school. I'm finally finished with Finals and can only hope to gawd that I managed to pass my Advanced Japanese Reading class… maybe she'll give me a pity pass so I can graduate T--T; I just had my commencement yesterday, though the possible excitement is kinda spoiled when you know you have to go back the next week to start summer school still… Anyhu, I'm babbling. Sorry for the increasing delays but.. honestly I hit a point that's only about three chapters from now that I'm having trouble writing. Writer's block sucks muchly. Well, enjoy!

**Apocryphal Reality: Gee, Thanks Guys**

Two days. Two damn days had passed since that terrible night where Quatre passed his final test, and every second since had felt like torture to Duo. He was acutely aware of Heero's constant proximity and no longer able to enjoy it like before, instead hating it for the memories it evoked of that night. He hadn't meant to say what he had, and he certainly hadn't meant to say so much. Every word, every slip was burned into his memory like a brand, still fresh and bleeding and aching. He knew what he said and that he shouldn't have said it and that's why being so near to the other figure was so unbearable. The silence between them was deafening, the words hanging above them unspoken but inescapable. It made Duo feel how he thought the doomed must feel, head on the block and waiting the short eternity for the axe to fall. The axe was there, heavy with meaning and sharp with words that shouldn't be said, and the braided devil knew that when it fell everything was going to fall apart.

Contrary to expectation, Trowa's presence wasn't helping Duo's state of mind. The tallest of the three ethereal figures currently watching over Quatre had been carrying on an equal amount of short but cordial conversations with both himself and the angel he was trying desperately to ignore. Somehow, knowing that his friend was chatting rather amicably with the source of his own consternation was frustrating… as well as making him paranoid that the two might be talking about _him_. Duo wanted to scream from sheer frustration and nerves but was too proud to have such a breakdown. He wanted to blame it on the stress, on his working two consecutive cases without a break, but he knew that it was his own damn problem that this was happening. He knew he shouldn't have gotten attached to his case, not his charge and definitely not his opponent. He knew it, even if he wouldn't admit that he had to anyone but himself.

They were all currently enduring another day of school, the last before weekend break which just made the day feel even longer, in Physics class to be specific. It wasn't that Duo was bad in school, it wasn't even that he was bad at science because neither was the case, but still he had no interest in anything going on in the class. He'd understood the relevance while he'd lived and had even applied himself well to his subjects, but after dieing… he couldn't help but wonder what the point was anymore. Nothing taught in school could possibly help him _now_. So he stood in the back of the classroom watching the lecture tick by slowly without paying attention to any of it.

Another point of irritation about this particular class was the fact that it just happened to be the one his charge shared with a one Lee Meiran, who also happened to be another mortal also on Trial. This of course meant that there was another angel-devil set in the room, those two being Change Wufei and Duo's own surrogate brother Solo. Over the past few weeks this occurrence had naturally become commonplace, but despite that and even all the hubbub the day before trying to explain Trowa's sudden presence the braided one of the group couldn't help being uncomfortable in the situation. He was feeling antisocial and wanted to avoid everyone if possible, so having two more ethereal beings near him with an ever-increasing chance of being approached, Duo was simply not enjoying Physics class at all.

"Would you like to talk about it or would you prefer to stew about it until you're ripping your hair out by the fistfuls?" a dry voice questioned suddenly from behind his left shoulder. Duo snarled quietly but turned a little to bring Trowa into his line of sight. He expected the other devil to be sporting a small smile and was surprised by the strange lack of expression.

"I would never rip my hair out, thank you very much." Duo raised his nose and sniffed in feigned disdain at the implication. "Don't be jealous just 'cause I'm prettier than you."

"Perish the thought." Trowa smiled, allowing himself to be drawn in by the ruse for a moment. The expression quickly faded and he laid a long-fingered hand gently against the leathery skin of Duo's wing. "I mean it, Duo. You're not yourself lately and I'm worried about you. Won't you talk to me?" The smaller leather-clad devil hesitated, part of him tempted to just vent at his other friend. Trowa may not have been dead long enough for them to be particularly close friends, but he did consider the taller devil a friend nonetheless. He hesitated, torn. Should he just suck it up and talk about it? Would it even help, Duo wasn't sure. Still, though, there was that nagging fear that his friend, with all the best intentions, may try to play 'matchmaker' if he found out the extent of Duo's thoughts and that was simply a possibility he was too mortified to contemplate. It wasn't helping his case, he knew, to be standing there silently deliberating but there wasn't much else in the way of options. Trowa was still watching him, opening his mouth as though to speak and as Duo struggled to find something to say first he was shocked to be suddenly thrown off-balance with a weight over his neck like a yoke.

"Yo Kid!" Solo greeted cheerfully, tightening the arm around the smaller devil's neck in an approximated hug. "What's with all the doom an' gloom over here, huh? You've been looking like someone just killed your dog or somethin'. What's up?"

_Oh no, not both of them_… Duo internally groaned and pasted on a fake smile to try to appease his friends. "I'm fine, really. Just tired, you know? Not getting my vacation time and all that and then having a special case like this," he twirled his hand vaguely in Quatre's direction, "You know how it is. I'm fine, really." Then the braided devil had the sudden urge to throttle his friends as they shared a look over his head. _I'm not in the mood for this_…

"Duo…" Solo began slowly, a rare occurrence of using his name rather than the nickname he usually called the 'younger' devil by, who winced at his next words. "You don't lie, so please don't start now. We all know something's bothering you so there's no point trying to hide it. We're your friends, let us at least _try_ to help you, eh?"

"You can't help." Duo murmured, all the tension suddenly draining out of him like he'd sprung a leak. He sagged against Solo's side, letting his head loll on the taller boy's shoulder and accepting the comforting arm still around him and the slight petting of his wing by Trowa. "Just believe me when I tell you that, all right? I'm Fate's new favorite plaything and my past is coming back to bite me in the ass. Thanks for the concern guys but I'll get over it." The two shared that damn look again over his head.

"… 'get over it'?" they echoed. At that point the captive devil really wanted to kick himself. _Way to go genius, open mouth insert foot._ He looked away, down at the floor and tensed in reflexive defense, ignoring the attempt at comfort the others were giving. "Kid c'mon, please talk to me." Solo pleaded at last, waiting through the long moment of torn silence that followed.

"I think I'm falling for him." Duo whispered quietly into the elder's shirt. Somehow saying it aloud made it more real… yet surreal at the same time. He didn't want to admit this, he'd been bordering on denial himself, but they were wearing down his barriers and Solo, damn him, knew how to get him to open up with infuriating ease. "I know I shouldn't and I know that I can't have him so please spare me the lecture, 'kay? It's my problem and yes I'll get over it, because I don't really have much of a choice otherwise do I?"

"Oh Duo…" There was nothing to be said, it was obvious, but still Solo seemed to struggle. Instead he tightened the arm still wrapped around the shoulders of the devil he considered to be like a little brother, drew him close into a firmer hug and carefully tucked the bowed head against his chest and rested his chin lightly on the mane of caramel tresses. "I'm sorry…" That was all he could think of to say, meaningless as the words may be, but Duo felt his sincerity anyway.

Cobalt eyes shifted hesitantly to where he knew his opponent stood at the side wall of the room, reclining between two windows with arms crossed and eyes slit in a deceptively casual pose, which was oddly mirrored by the other angel at his side. You'd almost think the two were related. Duo closed his eyes again against the twinge he felt looking upon Heero's pristine form, burrowing slightly into he chest he was resting on. Solo crooned quietly and to his surprise he felt Trowa press up against him from behind and enfold him in a three-way hug that, at least a little bit, let him feel safe in the cocoon of arms and wings.

"Geez," Duo muttered after a quiet interval with a weak laugh, "You just had to do this in front of him, didn't you? There goes what little dignity I had left." Rumbling chests around him bespoke their amusement, but whatever witty retort either planned to say was lost in a sudden shrill scream echoing from down the hall. The three broke apart and heads of living and ethereal alike turned towards the sound like hounds catching a scent, and a sudden sense of foreboding settled on the room in that brief moment before everyone scrambled up and towards the door to see what the sudden ruckus was about. _Oh no_…

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konpeitou: Has been read so please review? Reviews are so very loved and appreciated ;o; 


	16. Heero: Beginning of the End

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Oops, meant to put this up before I left... but I was a little loopy from lack of sleep for a week. So here it is now and suchness, enjoy!

**Apocryphal Reality: Beginning of the End**

"Are you well, Yuy? You seem distracted lately." Wufei noted dryly from his position against the wall a mere foot away. Heero cracked one eye open to look sideways at his companion before slipping shut again.

"I'm fine, I assure you."

Wufei hmm'd in the manner of one not believing what he hears. "I see…"

Heero just ignored the subtle prod and rested against the classroom wall in his now-usual place between the windows. Dark prussian eyes were slit open imperceptibly to keep a careful watch on his surroundings. It was a superfluous façade and the stoic angel wasn't quite sure why he was putting up such a nonchalant appearance, but somehow he didn't want to be scrutinized. Narrow slivers of blue slid slowly from the golden crown of his charge towards the back of the room where, just barely visible without having to turn his head, Heero could see the three devils standing close together. Though, to be more precise his opponent was surrounded by the other two present and not appearing overly happy with the situation. Heero would have narrowed his eyes if he had been capable without closing them, so he watched the trio without expression and wondered why a part of him wanted to go over there and free the braided devil from an apparently uncomfortable situation, and why his stomach turned at close affection the other working devil displayed.

"You seem to get along well with your devil." Heero noted, eying Wufei slowly. He didn't want to acknowledge any particular reason for asking about the other devil, nor any reason he would have an ounce of interest in the matter. But the images of Duo and Solo seeming so close flashed in his mind and the angel shoved them violently away. _It means nothing!_

"I suppose," the other angel answered with a shrug. "He is a bit… excitable, but I have found him to be an honorable and worthy opponent. We have come to an easy accord and work without grudge to carry out our duties." The words were calm and sensible, spoken as if it were an obvious and natural occurrence which left Heero mulling over the words. Had he been judgmental about his opponent purely for the fact that he was a devil? "You do not get on well with your opponent, I take it?" _Do we?_ Heero wondered, _I don't know how I'd define this…us, whatever. It's certainly not like any Trial I've worked before. Do we get along? It doesn't seem so yet…_ yet he was more attentive to this devil than any he had been against before and experienced things that he still didn't want to think much about.

"That's one way of putting it." The black-haired angel quirked a brow at the quiet mutter and small sigh, but did not comment. In the following silence Heero once more felt his eyes drifting to the back, seeing that the trio had moved closer and was now a single mass of bodies and wings, his opponent devil tucked up between the other two almost like a human sandwich. Prussian focused oddly on the scene, noticing the easy familiarity with which his friend's opponent had pulled Duo against him, head tucked up under his chin. The way he held him and the way the braided one's arms held back with equal fervor made Heero's stomach turn unpleasantly and he suddenly felt like he'd swallowed something foul. _This doesn't mean anything,_ he tried to tell himself again, but each repetition was getting harder to believe.

Then he was pierced by cobalt and held in place though he couldn't say why. Heero was thankful then of his low-lidded eyes, feeling somehow protected to not be caught staring openly at the other figure when Duo's sorrowful blue eyes opened upon his figure. The feeling then, feeling those eyes on him, was of a whole different caliber than what the angel had felt before and he almost faltered from the feel of it. _What the hell is going on with me? This is absurd!_

Fortunately or unfortunately, his thoughts such as they may have been were interrupted by a loud piercing scream echoing from down the hall. There was a sudden moment of silence as every head on the room swiveled in eerie synchronicity towards the sound, then just as quickly time caught up with a series of shouts and yells and every body rose up and flooded towards the door like a wave despite the teacher yelling for students to remain in their seats. The kids bottlenecked at the door, struggling to get through, so the two angels and three devils bypassed the mess by simply walking through the wall – and once more freezing at the sight that greeted them down the hall. Dimly he heard Duo let out a string of vehement curses.

It was mayhem, pure and simple. Children and students screaming and being worked into a mad frenzy as bodies flooded the halls. Only one space was open, about two classrooms down, at the center of which was the same delinquent group that had bullied Quatre for his first test. Sonari was screaming for demands and silence, holding a pretty brunette that was screaming and crying hysterically hostage with a gun moving alternately from her head to waving madly at the surrounding crowd. The rest of his gang was armed in some fashion and were keeping the crowd back. _Well,_ Heero thought dryly, _if this isn't a sign for imminent death I don't know what is._ Honestly he was starting to get a headache from the screaming; why did girls have to be so shrill? He gave up trying to listen to anything that was being said, instead watching the scene play out as it would.

It wasn't long before Quatre, Meiran and a few students from their classroom managed to work their way towards the mess – not a difficult task when most of the students were instead trying to run _away_ when they could. Meiran stiffened and glared with righteous fury at Sonari and his captive before screaming right back at them. Quatre was a step behind her, brows drawn and lips slightly parted with an aura that exuded shocked worry. Unfortunately, Meiran's yelling drew the attention of a few and Risuda Yuuko in particular fixed her gaze in their direction. She said something taunting with a rather dark smile as she sauntered over, reaching past the surprised Chinese girl's shoulder to grasp as the collar of Quatre's clothes and yanked him out of the mob into the open space. Wufei and Solo stood amidst the horde filling their bodies beside their charge while Heero followed his own into the open, just behind the two devils who let out a twin cry and rushed quickly to Quatre's side. He saw no reason to rush, there was nothing they could do in this situation and they all should know it. This was Quatre's Fatal Moment and whether he lived through it or died would not be affected by anything his attendants said or did at this point. They were merely spectators.

So Heero watched as the girl yanked Quatre forward, as she threatened him with a knife – retaliation, she said, for what he did to her… a knife was fitting, right? Watched as the two devils clung to each other helplessly while the young blonde was threatened, as he was told to bring out his own knife. He watched it all move by quickly, jaded to such things after so many years and still feeling a twinge of sympathy and regret for the boy nonetheless. The boy was brave, standing up to the gang of idiots knowing that they were all armed and that the leading pair didn't particularly like him. Still he tried to reason them down, tried to get Sonari to let the girl go. It was endearingly honorable.

But ultimately futile.

It didn't take long for things to escalate out of control. Yuuko lunged for Quatre, intending to take him hostage no doubt, but he managed to evade her when Meiran suddenly burst out of the group and collided heavily with the other girl. Quatre hesitated barely a moment before rushing at Sonari and trying to break the girl free while the gun was pointed elsewhere. The volume of the crowd rose in a dizzying crescendo, many people ducking or even running in sudden terror of getting hurt. It was disturbing having so many bodies running through him and Heero shuddered self-consciously as Quatre and the previously-hostage girl scrambled near his feet when they landed from the tumble. Sonari screamed obscenities and pulled the gun around towards the pair on the floor, face red with rage and focused on squarely on the blonde.

"NO!!" Somehow the scream was audible over the general din and the angel was honestly surprised to see Meiran backhand Yuuko and rush towards Sonari to stop his attack. It was clichéd, the way this scene was playing out. Just as the small girl reached him, stopped him for a moment, she was thrown back down. Sonari aimed again, but she stood once more for another attack, landing a punch on his cheek with a deafeningly thunderous sound. Another of those time-stopping dire moments as eyes widened in realization and blood pooled from Meiran's chest as she collapsed slowly to the tile floor. Everyone involved was frozen until Quatre suddenly screamed and rushed up, attacking wildly at their assailant. He managed a few hits on the older boy, screaming and crying and completely focused, until Yuuko came from behind and buried her knife to the hilt in his back. As he collapsed, landing beside the petite Chinese on the floor, arm flopping against one of her legs. Heero stopped paying attention, then, and the chaotic mass began to fade with Quatre's consciousness. The five of them slowly knelt by the two bodies, still alive but barely so.

_I had honestly hoped you'd live, Quatre_…

Prussian eyes scanned those around him as the boy faltered through his final breaths. Across from him Trowa was understandably teary, expression relatively calm despite the silent tears making tracks down his cheeks. Duo was beside him, an expression of mourning sorrow for a boy he had become attached to but he was not as emotional as Heero might have expected. To the side, kneeling around Meiran's form, Solo wore a likewise sorrowful face. _These devils get so attached_… he realized. Wufei, though, was a great surprise to his fellow angel. The onyx-eyed figure actually looked personally wounded and deeply pained as he watched his charge bleed to death. _Wufei_…

The surroundings fogged up, a mist growing with each unsteady breath the pair took. It rose up between the two and separated Quatre and Meiran to be dealt with by their own judges, moving the souls into purgatory for the final judgment. It was getting close, the breaths slow and uneven, aqua eyes getting glossy with each slowing heartbeat. Heero hid his wings, folded in tightly until they were practically invisible and was pleased that the two devils were aware enough to follow his example. They had to hide, of course, because mortals had such biased concepts of angels and devils that it was simply easier to hide their identities until one or the other was ready to take the charge out of purgatory.

"Trowa…" Heero began, looking at the taller devil and trying to think of the best way to phrase his request. But the other simply nodded and stood to back up slowly into the mist until he was only a vague outline.

A quiet groan drew the attention of both angel and devil back down to the matter at hand. Quatre groaned again and levered himself up on one arm while the other pressed the heel of his palm against his temple. His new ethereal body was still wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing before sans the telltale bloodstains of his final moments.

"Quatre Raberba Winner." Heero began tonelessly, catching the blonde's confused attention. "Welcome to the afterlife."

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**Added Notes: **And thus I hit the point where I need some opinions. From here on Duo and HEero will begin to part ways for the time being. For the most part, plot would follow one more than the other and I hadn't thought as deeply about the other. So, I'd like opinions on whether I should just follow the one or if I should expand the story a bit more to continue to alternate and follow both Heero and Duo. What do you guys think? It's what I've been having trouble deciding and is making it hard to write x.o So opinions would be very much appreciated.

konpeitou: Review? ;o;


	17. Duo: Parting Ways

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: This has taken me forever to update, I'm sorry about that. So why has it taken me so long to update? School is screwing me over, adding on more and more classes after I've supposedly already graduated, moving out of home, job hunting, and overall a busy life getting in the way. Plus another story has been eating up my free time while I tried to think out more of this. I'm still working on it, promise. Though, at this point I doubt anyone reads it anymore Anyway, I have the next chapter almost done so I'll try to post that soon without such a huge gap! Barring life being a mess again…

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**Apocryphal Reality: Parting Ways**

Duo always hated this part, when the charge would look between them in such confusion… remembering their death but still in denial, not really understanding what's going on. The wide liquid blue eyes looked between them now just like that and the devil very much disliked it.

"A-afterlife?" the blonde murmured, head tossing side to side between the two figures kneeling as his side. Duo smiled as gently as he could and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Quatre, you died from your wound. We are in Purgatory now to sort you into your afterlife." The boy jerked to look at Heero, who nodded solemnly. "We're here to explain things and answer any questions you may have, all right?" A weak nod and Duo continued. "Do you have any specific questions or should I just begin?" Quatre shook his head and then pressed his palm harder against his temple with a small hiss. "Right, so… to start off we are, in essence, the judges for your soul. Fate isn't entirely predetermined, things can always be changed, but when the time comes in a person's life where the chance of their death drastically increases, we are sent to…" he faltered on the words, but Heero supplied them readily enough.

"We are sent to test you." He finished. "You are put through a series of events to test your worthiness to ascend to Heaven should you die in your Fatal Moment."

"You passed them all, Quatre." Duo broke in with a smile, once more gaining the kid's attention. "You passed with flying colors."

"Wait a sec," the blonde interrupted, pulling his hand away from his head to hold up in the air calling for pause. "That means… that means you're the ones I felt, the ones around me the last few weeks, right? That was you?" Prussian and cobalt mixed over his head.

"I _told_ you he knew we were there." Duo muttered towards the angel, feeling a smidgeon of satisfaction for being vindicated. "That was us, I'm sorry about that. Honestly. You're not supposed to be able to know we're there, we were… caught off-guard to say the least. I'm really sorry for–"

Quatre waved off the apology absently. "It's fine, was just a bit disturbing to feel someone that I couldn't see. That, and you two were – are – way too tense." He paused and scrutinized the pair for a long moment. "Definitely tense, your emotions are all kinds of tangled up." He sighed and dropped his hand into his lap. "I can tell you're not particularly happy to have me talk about you, so please… do continue talking about me instead, hm?"

"Right." Duo murmured, feeling on the verge of blushing, acutely uncomfortable from Quatre's too-accurate words. But…_both of us?_

"Are you ready to go to Heaven, Quatre?" Heero asked, probably because Duo had not continued, which made the devil feel even more awkward.

"Not yet." Both attendants were startled by the strangely serious answer. "I want to know what happened. To my friends and classmates, to Meiran-chan… I want to know that my sister is all right." His golden head was bowed so he didn't see them share another look over his head. It seemed to be a battle of _you tell him_ between their eyes for a long moment before Duo sighed and replaced his hand on Quatre's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, we don't know that. You are our connection to Earth while we judge you, when you died we come with your soul here and couldn't see what happened. I can tell you that Meiran died as well, though I don't think anyone else was harmed. She's in good hands, I assure you, but I have no more idea of her ultimate fate than you at this moment. Your sister will mourn you, but she will live I'm sure."

"I want to see her."

"You can't." Heero's abrupt denial drew both of their attention. "You have no place in that world anymore, you must move on."

"I have to know she's all right!" Quatre protested.

"It's not open for discussion."

"Quatre!" Duo frantically pressed his hand to the boy's cheek and forced his gaze back. The devil was having flashbacks and seeing history repeat itself and there was a promise burning a hole in his heart so he held the blonde's attention urgently. "Quatre listen to me, listen very carefully. You can't pursue this. You have to give up that life or it will doom you. Please."

"She's my sister, I can't leave her…"

"Heero, please…" Duo began, looking pleadingly at the angel across from him. He couldn't fail, not now… he couldn't let the sweet teen fall after all he had been through, after he had already passed his Trial, he just couldn't. A flash of fear struck him as Heero stood._Please don't judge him yet!_ Amazingly, inexplicably, the angel nodded and looked out towards the shadow still in the mist. Duo turned his attention back to Quatre as he stood as well. "If you can keep a secret, there's someone we'd have you talk to before you decide. Can you keep a secret, Quatre?"

He simply nodded, confused. Duo and Heero gestured towards the mist and watched the form gain substance, more detail with each step, and the pair slowly stepped away to fade out and give the friends a moment of privacy. They stopped when the pair were just blurs, vague shapes in the mist. Duo turned to nervously look at the angel standing rigidly beside him. "Thank you."

Heero turned and stared, his piercing eyes making Duo want to shrink away from the sheer intensity. Then he blinked, breaking contact. The devil released a breath he didn't know he was holding while his companion absently ran a hand through his messy hair. "I'm not a complete monster you know."

Duo looked at him so sharply his braid whipped against his back, but Heero didn't meet his gaze and continued to watch the shadow in the distance. _Monster? Where did that come from?_ He was completely dumbfounded by the statement, and somehow hurt that the angel might think that he felt that way about him. _I guess I wasn't as obvious as I thought I was_…

"Even a blind man could see that he doesn't belong in Hell." Heero sighed, so much expression in that one breath that Duo felt hurt. "I guess you didn't believe me when I told you I'm not that cruel."

Duo's stomach twisted with guilt. _I didn't know I was upsetting him, I didn't mean to. Stupid Duo, why can't you ever do anything right?_ Everything seemed like such a mess. How was it that he could desire the angel so much, want so desperately taste his lips and skin and feel his toned body flush against each other, to lose himself in the deep blue eyes… and at the same time manage to so royally screw things up that he kept thinking Duo hated him. Hated! He was just that special that he gave off the exact opposite aura of his real feelings. But the devil knew, whatever the price to his pride, he didn't want things to end with such utter misconception. Trowa called to them, breaking Duo's thought and he realized with horror that their time was up.

"Are you ready, Quatre?" Heero asked promptly upon their return. Duo walked over to stand beside Trowa. _The poor kid probably has no idea that he'll never see his best friend again_… The taller devil gave the blonde an affectionate squeeze and encouraging nod.

"I'm ready."

Heero looked to Duo and the devil held his eyes a long moment before bowing his head, as was proper to the conceding side. "Then come, Quatre Raberba Winner, in the name of God to your final resting place in Heaven." Heero unfurled his wings and held out his hand out for Quatre to grasp, though Duo very desperately wished he could take that hand instead. _I'm out of time. Maybe it's for the best._

"Trowa?" the blonde queried, turning from where Heero was leading him away. The two devils straightened with a sad smile – and let their wings unfold. Quatre gasped, shaking his head in denial. "Oh Trowa, no…" he let go of the hand leading him, rushed forward and nearly bowled his friend down as he launched into his arms in a desperate hug. "I can't believe you're not…!" he began crying again and Trowa whispered soothingly to him. Duo thought it prudent to step away and give them another moment to say goodbye, looking away to give them a semblance of privacy.

But his eyes found Heero, staring back at him. _Oh god, I want him_, he mourned in his mind, struggling to stay where he was. _I want him but I can't, I can't! _The prussian eyes were so intense it burned into Duo's soul. _I can't… I don't care!_ From one instant to the next he crossed the space between them, threw his arms around the angel's shoulders and pressed their bodies close from neck to knee. He barely registered the surprise before he claimed those tempting lips in a kiss. It was hard and searing and Duo's whole being burned from the contact. Heero's hands fell weakly on the slim leather-clad hips, whether from shock or intent the devil neither knew nor cared, he just knew that the sensation was heady and intoxicating. He wanted more, much more, but even in his dazed mind he knew he wouldn't get much more out of this kiss. _This will have to be enough._

Pulling back was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do – or if it wasn't it sure felt like it at the time. Each step back as he retreated felt like a physical pain and the questioning gaze following him was almost more than he could take. Those eyes, the confused and curious look, made Duo realize exactly what he'd just done. _Oh… oh no, I just forced myself on him! How could I?_ His arms came up reflexively to cover his mouth with both hands as he stared in horror at what he'd done. _I really am despicable to force myself on another… Duo you idiot!_

He didn't hear Trowa quietly goading Quatre back, barely registered the blonde standing beside Heero. He was caught by the eyes and his own guilty thoughts, until those eyes finally turned, leading the blonde onward towards his forever future. Duo sank to his knees in the mist, numbly feeling the concerned hand Trowa placed on his shoulder. "Come on Duo, it's over. Nothing to do now but go home, yes?"

_It's over_… The thoughts were heavy in the air and his mind. Shaky legs carefully lifted him back up and he stood, head bowed. _It's over now_…

"You're right, it's over. Let's go back." The braided devil didn't wait, Shifted immediately to his own niche. He stood for a long moment on the indigo sand with his head bowed, shivering from something other than cold. _Game over Duo, get over it._ The harsh reprimand didn't help, and a single tear fell unnoticed to stain the dark beach.

_It's over._

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konpeitou: Reviews of what you think.. or just plain letting me know anyone still reads this, would be lovely :D 


	18. Heero: Settling In

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: I got a job, yay money! The hours and commute suck, though. Hopefully it'll ease up in a couple weeks and I can do more when I get home than eat and pass out. Like write. Damn them for forbidding laptops at work anyway, killjoys. Anyway, enjoy and whatnot!

**Apocryphal Reality: Settling In**

The ability to Shift from place to place at a mere thought was something that all heavenly – or unheavenly as the case may be – beings shared. Stereotypical angels and demons and devils possessed supernatural powers to do just about anything the human mind could come up with, from telekinesis to second apocalypse in the blink of an eye. As nice as that would have been, God didn't particularly care to give his deceased children that much power. As it was, having the ability to Shift themselves to wherever they wanted to go was more a matter of necessity than any sort of benevolence; after all, they couldn't very well fly between the worlds so they needed some way to travel besides their wings. Couldn't really put mortals on Trial if they judges couldn't _get_ there, now could they?

Unfortunately this generally took a while to get the hang of and newly dead fresh out of Purgatory couldn't be expected to know how to Shift, let alone that they even could. For that reason Heero had to have a hold on the petite blonde teen when he Shifted back to Heaven in order to bring the boy with him. The pale hand slipped from his unresisting hold when they were standing outside the Pearly Gates – as disgustingly literal as that was, there really was a large set of doors made out of iridescent pearl at the edge of Heaven's domain. There wasn't, however, some silly line of souls waiting their turn to meet some poor angelic soul stuck at a meaningless desk job asking the same question over and over so they could all try to answer the meaning of life to get inside. Just an endless wall broken by a gigantic many-stories-high gate that swung open at a touch far too easily for something so massive.

It was the crossing of that threshold where things progressed through the final leg of the ordeal.

"This may hurt." Heero thought to warn his companion quietly a moment before the blonde gasped and fell to his knees. _Here we go again_, the angel thought tiredly as he knelt down to Quatre's level.

"What's happening?" the smaller figure asked, gasping and face drawn with lines of pain. He crouched tightly on the ground with arms wrapped clutching his own thin frame, one across the slender chest and the other up and clutching at a shoulder. "Why does it hurt?"

"That would be your wings growing in." Heero informed him while coolly eyeing the trembling back. "It'll pass soon. It's mostly the final adjustment for your body going from limbo to your final fate – angel, in this case. Consider it like being branded."

"Great." Quatre muttered darkly with a groan "I'm cattle." Heero couldn't help but smirk at the metaphor. _I'd say more like sheep,_ the brunette thought dryly with an awkward pat on the boy's shoulder, _God's little sheeple._ He slipped his hands along the boys back until he was just beside the shoulder blades and forcefully ripped two tears in the soft lavender shirt. Little mounds of fluff were already apparent against the pale skin, quivering with each groaning shaky breath the boy drew. Heero didn't try to be soothing, murmuring any words of comfort through the process, because he knew very well that he generally failed abysmally in that regard when he tried. Better to not even make the pretense.

"It should get easier now," he informed the boy instead, keeping a critical blue eye on the growing mounds. Tan fingers carefully guided bits of bone and fluff through the fabric tears as they grew with ever-increasing speed. In the space of a single minute the bones knit and expanded into the spidery skeletal hand that formed the wing base, skin following a half-second after to sprout the mass of snowy feathers. Quatre screamed in pain through the final burst of growth. Heero withdrew his hands and sat back on his heels while the boy recovered, panting heavily with a fresh set of large, luxurious wings arcing above him. "Congratulations, you are now officially an Angel."

"Gee, thanks." Quatre muttered darkly as he collapsed back on his rear with his arms stretched back to keep him up, weak and shaky though they were. His new wings wilted and flopped inelegantly on the ground behind him. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. Please forgive my rudeness."

Heero waved the apology away dismissively. "No need, your reaction is understandable. It has been a long time but I do recall the experience myself."

"Yeah, about that," the blonde interrupted, raising his head with an absent toss to get errand bangs out of his eyes. "Why did that have to _hurt_? I mean, we're dead aren't we?" His guardian just blinked.

"It's called an afterlife for a reason. You're still alive – just not in the sense you're used to. You still have all your senses, physical and emotional." He cocked his head to the side in thought. "Well, unless you're a ghost. They're rather fixated on a single sense, usually negative, in an endless cycle they can't escape. Not particularly pleasant I would venture to guess." The elder angel stood abruptly and straightened his clothes and wings surreptitiously out of long habit. Prussian eyes scanned the familiar horizon housed within the walls while his charge continued to recover.

The sheer amount of white was almost blinding, even after all the time that Heero had dwelled within the domain. An almost metropolitan-esque city sprung up a small distance down the white stone cobbled road, tall buildings and towering sky-rises grew in dizzying heights up to the center of the city which was marked by a single glimmering tower so tall its top couldn't even be seen. The whole domain, stretching farther than any eye could see, was made entirely of light materials. White was the predominate color of Heaven with only pale pastels and tints marking color – the only dark colors to be found there were on Angels themselves, their skin and clothing.

"How very…bland." Quatre commented dryly from behind his shoulder, recovered enough to have stood and rejoined the brunette. It was an annoying apt description of the place, though; white for purity and all that insured that Heaven was never really tainted with darker colors. "So, now what?"

"Now we take you to your new home," Heero explained simply, cocking his head to the side as he eyed the blonde speculatively. "Would you prefer to walk or Shift?"

Quatre looked out over the blinding cityscape with hidden distaste and answered with a decisive "Shift, please."

The elder angel was both pleased and annoyed at the choice – pleased because he didn't much care for wandering around Heaven but annoyed because now he had to make the effort of connecting to the boy's new and unmarked residence. He laid a firm hand on the slim shoulder, closed his eyes to better concentrate on the new angel's _feel_ and reached out into the ether to search for the bubble of space that bore a faint similarity. Once a being was made into an Angel, a realm of space was automatically created specifically for it to reside in, but until the new angel aligned him- or herself to it the connection was very weak. Once he found it, though, Heero locked it in his mind as the destination and followed the feel towards the new abode. Quatre was silent a long moment once they arrived.

"Are you serious? I get to live in a _box_ now?" the blonde's incredulous statement dripped acidly into the silent room which was, in essence, a box. A simple, unfurnished white room. The reaction was understandable; the boy had come from a rich family and a rather nice home so such a place would come as a shock.

"Only if you want to," the elder explained with a sigh. "This space is for you and you only, and it will react to your wishes. Think about what you want it to look like, then enforce the thought with a little push, and the room will react accordingly. Try it."

Still dubious, Quatre nevertheless did as instructed, closing his eyes and frowning in concentration but nothing happened. His pale aqua eyes glared accusingly at the brunette. "That failed. Why don't _you_ do something, huh?"

"This place won't respond to me," he explained again, "it's only yours. Now try it again."

It took twenty six minutes for the blonde to finally achieve a notable change, but it was a necessary exercise. The room would not properly harmonize with his aura until he had worked a change upon it. Now, it would be much easier to reach this place by Shifting. After that, he worked for another hour or so on arranging the place to his liking until they were standing inside a rather nice penthouse. Many of the furnishings were a medium or dark tone but still managing to stay very tasteful. He only stopped when he suddenly swayed from fatigue and collapsed onto a curvy, artistic chair. "I have a headache," he declared simply.

"Naturally, you've been working your mind quite hard for some time now, you're getting a reaction headache from the strain."

"What's the point of being dead if you still suffer…"

"Would you prefer to feel nothing at all?" Heero asked with his head tilted curiously to the side. "To never again feel even the simple touch of a handshake or even a hug?"

"No, I suppose not," Quatre admitted slowly, rubbing tiredly at his eyes, "Not that anyone I care about is around for me to hug, anyway."

"You will not always be alone…" Heero tried to console him, feeling awkward for the attempt but he received a weak smile for the effort. Silence descended on the pair, broken only by their slow breathing in the luxurious room. He couldn't explain why, but although he wanted to shed his duty as guide as quickly as possible, the elder also felt a small compulsion to stay with the boy. It was strange… and Heero wasn't at all sure what to do about it. "Perhaps I should leave you to get situated…" he offered into the silence, as much to give the blonde peace as for himself.

"If you wish," Quatre answered simply, but his sea-blue eyes were watching the other man with a hooded intensity that belied further thoughts. "May I ask when you'll return?"

Truth be told, Heero was very inexperienced with this sort of thing. He had been around long enough, of course, to know the basics of guiding after death, but all of his knowledge was gained by proxy of other angels. Until Quatre, Heero had never failed a mission, and thus had never found himself with a fledgling angel to take care of. First hand experience was sorely lacking and compounded to his rather prominent anti-social tendencies served to make this an awkward experience for the older angel.

"I will be back tomorrow," Heero replied slowly "Unless you would prefer to have more time."

"I think a day of solitude will be more than enough, thank you," the blonde countered sardonically. He brushed his hand idly over the dark furniture he was lounging on, tired eyes fluttering with a sigh. "It's not like I can leave this place until you teach me that travel trick – what did you call it? Shifting? – so a day is fine."

"You could always just make a door to the outside."

"And if I got lost, how would I find my way back?"

"Ah, yes," Heero inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment of the point. "I will teach you how to Shift tomorrow, then. I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly."

"Thank you."

It sounded like a dismissal and Heero welcomed it as such, nodding his head once more and Shifted back to his own space without another word.

* * *

konpeitou: I think perhaps I have Quatre a little OOC? I dunno, it's fun to make him sweet but snarky at the same time. Probably not the Heero update most of you were looking for, eh? But I'll go more into his thoughts on his next turn around. Reviews and comments are always appreciated, it gives me something happy to think about when work has me wanting to bash my head into the teevee... 


	19. Duo: Bureaucracy

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: I hate my job. But only because I'm stuck playing sports that I know nothing about and have overtime tacked onto an already long day. I miss having time to do things other than work, eat and sleep. But since I took the day off early today, I'm coherent enough to remember that I need to update. So here you go!

**Apocryphal Reality: Bureaucracy **

Duo grumbled under his breath for the sixth time that minute and shuffled forward a few precious inches before settling in to wait some more. He was waiting in line in what, he thought, seemed to be Hell's equivalent of the DMV; obscenely long lines, slow service and too much paperwork. As far as the devil was concerned, it was as close to true Hell as he ever wanted to get, though it was an unfortunate necessity for the working class Devils. He clutched his completed set of forms in one hand, already getting indecently crumpled from the frustrated clenching of his fist, and shifted his weight a little.

It usually took about a day's worth of time to get everything submitted. Duo was already nearly mindless from boredom from the endless hours of shuffling through the Submissions Office. There were less than a dozen devils left ahead of him and still he knew it'd take at least an hour until his turn. He also realized how sad it was to be able to think of an hour's wait as _almost done_. Well, time held different weight when you were dead in the eternal afterlife. Even a day wasn't that long when you were going to exist forever.

Still, he wished he had an iPod or something. If only Hell could repossess the belongings of the dead then they'd have some nifty technology to pass the time. Then again, it was Hell… the inhabitants weren't really supposed to be enjoying their stay. Devils were on a level all their own but at the end of the day, even they were counted among the Damned.

As boring as it was, Duo struggled to keep himself occupied. Not because he couldn't stand the tedium – he had endured it many times before, after all – but because if he let his mind wander it found unpleasant topics to focus on. Well, perhaps not entirely unpleasant. He couldn't in all honestly say that the fleeting, stolen kiss had been the slightest bit distasteful, but everything else… yeah, he'd rather not think about it at all if he could help it.

So he checked and rechecked his paperwork, making it more crumpled each time, and made small talk with the Devils around him, most of which he didn't even know, but it served to keep his mind in the here and now.

When he finally made it up to the window he wasn't sure whether to smile or grimace at the sight of Une. She was a weird one, a devil that had split personalities that manifested oh her ethereal body. Une looked like two women had been cut in half and their opposing sides slapped together to make her. On her right side was a kind enough looking woman, soft brown hair worn down and feathered around her neck, a gentle smile tugging at the corner of the rouged lips, and dressed smartly in a nicely fitted blue silk dress. She was generally called Lady.

Her left was the other extreme, expression taught and unforgiving, a gold-rimmed monocle over her eye, brown hair pulled up into a bun on the side of her head so tight that Duo wondered how she didn't get a headache from the pressure, and dressed in tight black leather. This one was called Mistress. Behind her back was a bright red wing, contrasting to the white one behind Lady's.

Story went that Une had passed her tests during her Trial, as did all who became Devils, but when she died it was the Mistress that surfaced and the Mistress who failed the final test. According to the rules, she should have gone to Hell as a Demon, sinking into eternal suffering for her crimes, but her devil in charge had petitioned on her behalf for reconsideration. The Lady was innocent, he had protested, and it was the Mistress who had damned them. It wasn't fair to punish both personalities. Still, there was the failure and she could not be accepted in Heaven, but Master Lucifer had taken consideration of her special circumstance and had allowed her to become a Devil. She was not fit for Trial work, though, given that the Mistress had little regard for the sake of others – with the exception of the devil whom had worked her case, it was said, an ancient Devil by the name of Treize Khushrenada – and so was Hell-bound for eternity.

Duo approached slowly, cautiously. "Hi there, uhh…" he trailed off, waiting for some indication of whom he would be addressing. If it was the Lady and he called her Mistress, it would immediately call up that less-than-savory personality, but if it was the Mistress and he called her Lady… the Mistress was liable to get very unpleasantly angry with him. He'd made the mistake before and would like to avoid a repeat performance. It was safest to find out whom he was talking to before addressing her.

"Oh Duo sweetie, how are you?" the woman called happily, and Duo sighed with relief.

"I'm alright Lady Une, how are you?" he answered with a genuine, if small, smile. He liked the Lady, really. She was a nice woman and always seemed to remember him amidst the flood of devils coming through every day. Or maybe she just remembered everyone, he wasn't sure, but it made him feel good to think that he was special to be remembered.

"Oh you know how it is, sweetie, just doing my job. I swear the paperwork is always backed up and we're never going to get caught up. We're just too understaffed, you know? Oh, but I do so hope another war doesn't break out, I'm not sure we could handle the overflow!"

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Lady," he told her with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. She returned it softly around biting her manicured nail nervously. Duo tried to focus on her right side while talking to her; it was damned unnerving to see the Mistress side so animated with the Lady's movements.

"I'm sure you're right, dear. Now, what can I do for you today? The usual I assume?"

"That's right. I got them all filled out and ready for you while I was waiting in the line ride back there."

"Why thank you dear, that'll save me time," Une smiled sincerely, even though it was a conversation they'd had many times since he'd started working. Duo always tried to save the staff time when he could, always having his stuff ready for submission so as to make their jobs a little easier. He handed over the pile of wrinkled papers and she started the process of stamping and filing them with the brisk efficiency born of long practice. After a few short minutes she straightened the papers and pulled out his own thick personal folder, his name scrawled across the front in the bold lettering of Hell's own ancient language. Duo could read it well enough, but he honestly couldn't understand any of it. She flipped through the papers a second time to make sure everything was in order. "All right then sweetie, you're all set to go with your standard vacation time, you'll be--"

"Wait, what?" he interrupted her, leaning a bit over the desk, "That can't be right, Lady, I was promised double time after this assignment if I succeeded, which I did, so I shouldn't have just the standard vacation time," irritated, he reached forward for the papers to look for the specific request for extended leave that he was promised.

"I'm sorry Duo!" Une explained, looking genuinely apologetic even as she pulled the files out of his reach. "I don't have the power to authorize an extended leave for you. I wasn't given any notice by the Master…"

"Are you sure? It's got to be part of the contract, right?" He reached out again, making a grab for the parchment that had his mission statement printed on it, but his hand was smacked away. When he looked up, words died in his throat to see the dark scowl stretched across Une's face.

"You will keep your hands off these files, do you hear me?" she demanded icily. Duo nodded and took a step back from the counter, arms raised palms-out in placation.

"Yes Mistress, sorry."

"Your paperwork is in order, you are free to go."

"Excuse me Mistress Une," he tried not to wince at the glare she aimed at him. A look from the Mistress could make anyone want to crawl into a hole and hide until the Apocalypse. "But the Master promised me double time for this since I didn't get my last vacation. It should be in the records…" he trailed off meekly, taking another step back.

"I will look into it," she told him, adjusting the set of her monocle and glaring with cold finality, and stuffed the newly filed papers into his folder before setting it away again. Duo bit back his anger, swallowing back the argument struggling free of his mouth, because he rather liked his afterlife the way it was and didn't want to provoke the Mistress into ruining it, nodded woodenly and Shifted out.

When he landed on his quicksilver beach, the first thing he did was toss his head back and scream out his frustrations into the empty niche. The fireflies bobbed nervously away from him, unsure of the noise, and the palms waved and rustled in quiet greeting, but otherwise the place was lifeless.

"It's not fair!" he snapped angrily, pacing in a small circle on the sands, stopping and glaring at the empty island, "They stole my vacation!"

The fireflies bobbed as though in agreement, though they really had no idea what he was going on about or why he was screaming so much. The sharp, cobalt-violet leaves slipped against each other with guttural whines that sounded too much like mocking laughter for his tastes. He glared at the island even though he knew that there was nothing around that he could blame. He was getting screwed over again, he knew it. But he was only a Devil, a creature of Hell… what else could he expect?

"It's not fair!" he snapped again, not pacified by the easy agreement of his insect neighbors. It occurred to him that perhaps he should find something else to rant at, something with intelligence. Something that could make him feel better.

So he huffed out another breath and prepared to Shift to Trowa's, realizing belatedly that his friend was having a hard enough time on his own without Duo adding his troubles to it. He let out another frustrated sigh, but it couldn't be helped. Trowa had just lost his best friend – again – and even if it's what he wanted for the kid, it was a bitter loss to know they'd never see each other again. Duo knew what that felt like, knew how it felt to know with cold finality that he'd never see loved ones again. He'd leave the devil to his grieving. Trowa needed to be alone for a while.

Unfortunately, what Duo really needed was not to be.

* * *

konpeitou: The really odd thing about this chapter is that it isn't how I intended it at all. I don't even know where Une came from, she just sort of wrote herself. More of what I actually meant to write will be in the next Duo chapter then. Please don't kill me yet, I shall be getting to their thoughts on each other soon :3 


	20. Heero: Uncomfortable Questions

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: I know I said this would be out earlier.. but life hates me. Overtime constantly, and since we had Christmas and New Years off.. they decided they could take our weekends instead without having to pay too much OT and DT. Then I was mad rushing in my few free hours to finish things for a con I went to last weekend. Our project is pushed back so we're still doing overtime… and then I got in a car accident last night - I've come to the conclusion that Mitsubishi hates me. So the only reason I even have the time to post this is because I had to take the day off to handle insurance and taking the car to the shop.

Soooo, I most likely won't even be able to start working on the next chapter for another week, at the least, depending on how the project goes, so it will most likely take me a couple more weeks for another update. I will be writing as soon as I get the chance, though! So please don't give up on me yet, eh? n.n;

**Apocryphal Reality: Uncomfortable Questions**

"Are you serious?"

The look that accompanied the question was just shy of daring and Heero felt it was perhaps prudent not to answer what was probably a rhetorical question. He hoped it was, though he wasn't particularly sure what anything meant in regards to the new fledgling.

"Seriously," Quatre continued, raising an arm up and gesturing vaguely around him, "This is it? This is our eternal resting place? This is Heaven?_This?_"

"Yes," Heero answered simply, holding back a sigh of irritation. _The price of failure,_ he mused dryly to himself. He had failed to get the kid sent to Hell and now he was forced to deal with him. He idly wondered if the Devils have as much trouble with it and then immediately pushed the thought away. It was irrelevant. Quatre huffed out a sigh of his own.

They were standing in a quaint café square in one of the many social areas of Heaven which, given that it resembled a metropolis, had a variety of shopping districts. Shopping was a loose term, though, since there was no type of currency in Heaven. The shops were made by people who'd had an affinity or love for their trade in life and wished to continue practice in their afterlife as well. Angels need not pay for anything they wished from these shops, they merely took it with a thanks and the shop owner could make more to replace it.

Quatre had wondered at the obvious lack of reciprocity, at why any angels would make things with no gain for their efforts. He had then concluded that they probably did it just to stave off the boredom; Heero hadn't disagreed. They had been wandering most of the day now and had stopped at a café for lunch and drinks – not that they needed to eat or drink anymore, but it was still an act that was pleasurable to most of the dead, either from habit or nostalgia.

"So tell me, Heero," the blonde fledgling prompted, crossing his arms over his chest and standing with his weight mostly on one side, "What exactly are we not allowed to do during the rest of our eternal afterlives up here? Wouldn't want to accidentally trip and Fall, now would we?"

Heero wasn't sure, but he thought that last bit sounded a little sarcastic. Still, he rolled a shoulder in a sort of half-shrug "I'm not sure what you mean. Commit no sins and you should be fine."

"Fine then, what constitutes a sin?"

Prussian blue eyes blinked slowly for a moment. "Don't you know?"

"Perhaps, but I want you to tell me." There was a decidedly unpleasant quirk to the lips accompanying those words. A soft feminine snicker sounded to the side of them from where Meiran was standing. Heero flicked a glace over at her guardian but Wufei was quite adamantly looking elsewhere, not wanting to get involved. The pair had joined them for lunch and had been quiet throughout the exchange thus far. Taking Heero's silence for the confusion that it was, Quatre continued to question, "Sex, for example."

Meiran snickered again and Heero found himself suddenly acutely uncomfortable. What was it with these newer generations? They were so blunt! He desperately didn't want to have the conversation he felt coming on, "E-excuse me?"

"Sex," the blonde said again, smirking at his guide's discomfort, "What are the rules?

"For instance, if Meiran and I were to get bored," he stepped over to the girl and slipped an arm around her waist, leaning in so that his lips brushed her cheek while he spoke, "and we decided to have a little fun… would that be a 'sin'?"

"Of course it would be!" Wufei shouted suddenly, his first words in over fifteen minutes. Then, realizing his outburst, he reigned in his control and returned once more to his forced silence. Meiran, for her part, only rolled her eyes and lifted Quatre's hand off of her. He kissed her cheek apologetically as he stepped away but she merely batted at his shoulder, though there was an amused smile on her face despite his antics – or maybe because of.

"Yes, and no," Heero said cautiously, pointedly ignoring the glare from his comrade. His charge only raised a single eyebrow, challenging him to continue, and Heero felt his discomfort become even more intense. Where he was from – _when_ he was from – people didn't talk about personal relations so openly like this. He wasn't comfortable with the discussion at all but it was his job to help the fledgling acclimate. He vowed once more to never fail a Trial again, if only to spare himself this kind of torture again. With a deep, steadying breath first, he continued, "It's not exactly prohibited, per se, there are just... rules."

"Rules," Quatre deadpanned back, and somehow that made Heero want to wince internally.

"We are, by God's decree, to mate for life," Wufei supplied gruffly from the side.

Aqua eyes flickered back and forth between the two senior angels, a look of wary disbelief settling over his pale features after a long moment of silence. "You've got to be kidding."

"No intercourse out of wedlock," Heero reminded him with a small shake of his head, "The same rules apply in the afterlife."

Meiran just continued to watch the discussion with undisguised amusement.

"You realize that makes absolutely no sense, right?" The blonde fledgling asked after a long moment and Heero wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question or not, so he kept quiet. Quatre continued anyway, "You're telling me that if anyone wants to have sex they've got to get married? For eternity? What about already married couples? If you're married in life are you married in the afterlife, too? What if one goes to Heaven and one goes to Hell, since they were married are they doomed to eternal celibacy without each other? What about in life? Are people doomed to failure if they have sex out of wedlock?"

"Only during their Trials!" Heero cried, interrupting the tirade by latching onto the only question so far that he had an answer for. "Judgment is only given during their death trials. But if they are caught having… inappropriate relations with another," he couldn't seem to bring himself to say that simple three-letter word, "then yes, it's possible for it to be taken as a condemning sin…"

"Great, so Heaven's filled with the married, the virginal and the lucky-to-have-not-been-caught," Quatre muttered, throwing his arms up in exasperation and making Meiran snicker again. "And the rest?"

"I don't know."

"Oh? Aren't you supposed to know all the rules so you can teach me?"

"Look," Heero bit out grudgingly, "It's not something I usually concern myself with, and besides… it's not exactly forbidden just… very heavily frowned upon.

"Eternity is a long time, right? Certain rules, and the breaking thereof, can be overlooked. If you're discreet. Promiscuity draws attention, and you don't want to have _His_ attention, trust me."

Quatre still looked dissatisfied but nodded his acceptance of the explanation, to which Heero was grateful, seeing the end of the uncomfortable topic in sight at last. Sex was not something he normally thought about – even thinking the word made him feel awkward – but more than that, it was making him think of something else that he'd been trying desperately the last few days to put out of his mind.

"And what if it was you?" Quatre asked suddenly.

Heero blinked as he realized that the fledgling was stepping purposefully toward him and into his personal space. He forced himself not to take a step back when the boy stopped mere inches away, an altogether frightening smile on his lips.

"What if I had some fun with you, Heero? Two men together… would that get me sent to Hell?" Heero's mouth opened but he could find nothing to say and the aqua irises darkened noticeably, "Is my sister going to go to Hell, Heero, for being with another woman?"

"I don't know!" the elder angel hissed, "That isn't in my power to judge."

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, perhaps anything from the kid yelling at him to outright attacking him, but not for the steady, silent glare only inches away that was trained on him. The open confrontation in the blue-green eyes was awkward enough, but when a grim smile pulled its way onto the pale face, Heero was acutely more disturbed.

It occurred to him – again – that Quatre was an empath. He was probably reading him; his discomfort, his unwelcome thoughts brought on by the proposition, his feelings on the unwanted thoughts that followed.

"Stop it," Heero growled out warningly through clenched teeth. He shifted his eyes to stare at the younger angel's forehead, avoiding eye contact. He focused on the ache of his jaw, the sting of his nails biting into his palms, the slight shudder of his body being held so tensely – anything to keep his mind off the blasphemous thoughts that lately haunted him. But still they flittered at the edge of his thoughts, taunting him with his failure to keep them at bay.

"Now, I can't exactly turn it off, you know," Quatre murmured chidingly, taking a step back. Heero released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding – the kid could be surprisingly threatening, despite his appearance to the contrary.

"_Try_."

"Why don't you just go to Hell?" the blonde said after a long moment, earning a pair of scandalized gasps from the side that neither paid much attention to. Heero also would have been incensed by the words had it not been for the curiously bored way in which they were uttered. He knew that is wasn't meant as a curse. It was a suggestion.

"Why don't you?" the elder angel countered. The fledgling paused, a thoughtful and calculating look dropping over his features, even as one pale hand rose up to tap a finger against his lips while he considered.

"All right. Let's go."

"E-excuse me?"

"Let's go," Quatre repeated, "And we can both get what we want."

"Absolutely not!" Heero snapped back, glaring and adamantly refusing to acknowledge the double-meaning of the other teen's words, refusing to acknowledge that there was anything in Hell that he wanted. "Angels can't go to Hell unless they Fall, and there's no coming back from that. It's not possible."

"Make it possible, then. I want to know what happened to him."

"I can't."

"I'm not going to give up on this, Heero."

"Then do it on your own," the darker angel growled, "Because I have no desire to go to Hell."

"I see," Quatre crossed his arms over his chest and moved to walk towards – and past – his guardian, pausing when they were shoulder-to-shoulder and speaking softly enough that only they two would hear his words, "Stop lying to yourself, Heero, I'm tired of the migraines."

Heero didn't retort as the fledgling continued on his way, walking out into the streets of Heaven to be swallowed up by the crowds.

"Well, that was certainly… interesting," Meiran commented after a moment, then shrugged her shoulders, waved with a goodbye and followed after her ex-classmate.

The two elder angels remained where they were, and when Heero looked at his comrade he could see a plethora of emotions staring back at him. Wufei's look seemed to communicate many things at once, being surprised, confused, wary, angry and scolding, just to note a few. But he said nothing, only dipped his head in a curt nod and followed after the fledglings. Heero sighed and Shifted home to meditate and try to think of things that didn't involve Hell – or its inhabitants.

* * *

konpeitou: /sigh I hate my job. 


	21. Duo: Comfortable Companion

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Thank gawd, my life is finally starting to slow back down into a normal schedule again, for the time being at least. I miss having time to write. It's weird, though.. in the beginning of the story I had no problem writing Duo's parts but struggled to make Heero's a similar length. Now it's the opposite and it's Duo that's giving me issues xD

**Apocryphal Reality: Comfortable Companion**

Duo Shifted into a familiar niche without so much as a by-your-leave and immediately started stalking toward his goal. He paid no heed to his surroundings, having seen the twilight graveyard more times than he could count in the past, only headed for the marble mausoleum that sat dead-center of the niche. This was probably the most familiar niche in Hell to him, besides his own. The heavy stone door swung open with surprising ease and silence when he pulled on the large brass ring handle. A narrow stairwell lit by ensconced torches led Duo down below ground into the crypt proper, opening up abruptly into a wide stone chamber brightly lit with more of the mounted torches. The torches themselves weren't exactly real; they gave off light and the effect of fire without the soot and smoke that would accompany real ones.

The braided devil ignored the décor, gave barely a glance at the mass of books and knickknacks that were set on the shelves that were carved directly from the rock as he stormed straight towards a large stone sepulcher set at the back of the crypt. The heavy stone tablet was already off the tomb and resting against its side, so Duo placed his hands on the rim and leaned over the edge.

"Solo!" he called out, unable to help the whine the inflected his voice. His friend was lying on his side in the stone box in plush satin lining that exactly resembled the inside of a casket. Solo twitched for a minute, reflexively brushed at his face with the back of one hand, then finally blinked blearily up at Duo.

"Huh?" was all that the older devil could seem to manage.

Duo whined again but managed to wait patiently for his friend to finish waking up, stepping back a little when the he climbed up onto the edge and swung his legs around so that he sat perched on the rim of his bed. Ever since Duo had died, he'd always been able to count on Solo to help him when he needed it. The older devil was like the brother he'd never had and the first devil Duo had ever met. Solo had worked Duo's Trial, after all.

"All right, what's wrong?" Solo asked once he'd settled, punctuating the question with a yawn.

"I didn't get my vacation!" the younger devil blurted out immediately. Well, it wasn't exactly what he'd meant to say, but it _was_ something wrong…

Solo just blinked. "Again?"

"Yes!" Duo snapped irritably, "Well, no. I mean, not like last time where I didn't get any time, but Lucifer said I'd get double time this time since I didn't get it last time, but I turned in my papers today – how did you get done so fast, anyway? – and Une said that I was only allotted the standard vacation time because there was no notice about the extended time and –" he stopped and took a breath from the run-on sentence but rather than continue the rant, just growled and threw his hands up in the air.

"Chill, Kid," Solo yawned again and absently scratched his head, further messing up his bed hair. "Why don't you just send a message to Lucifer and have him clear it up?"

Duo couldn't help it; he just stared at his friend and honestly wondered if Solo was still dreaming. "Send a message to the Master himself?" he asked incredulously, not sure he'd heard the suggestion quite right and hoping for clarification. Solo only nodded. "A lowly Devil like me? Are you insane?"

"Why not? The Master himself saw fit to make such a deal with a 'lowly Devil like you', right? I don't think he'd be opposed to you trying to get his side of the deal. Lucifer doesn't go back on his word, you know that."

"Yeah, I guess…"

"So just find one of the messenger demons and have them pass it along, eh? With any luck it'll all be sorted out by the time your standard vacation time is over and you can keep resting while the rest of us have to get back to work."

Duo muttered an agreement and looked away, staring at nothing in particular. It sounded like a simple solution so he'd give it a shot. He'd find Ariel to deliver it, maybe she'd remember having told him of the deal and could remind Lucifer if necessary. The braided devil seriously doubted it would work. The Master was a busy being and wasn't likely to concern himself with such paltry things as the vacation time of a working devil. Given that they were in _Hell_, it was rather amazing that they got breaks at all. He could just as easily work them to the bone and there'd be nothing they could do about it.

"Are you going to tell me what's really wrong now, Kid?" Solo asked suddenly. Duo jerked his head back up in surprise, feeling a little guilty for lingering still. "We both know that that wasn't the real reason you came, so out with it. What's wrong?"

Duo muttered his answer, looking away and trailing a finger absently alone the stone rim and hoping that he wasn't blushing. Now that he was here he was having serious second thoughts about it and debated whether or not it would be wiser to gather up his pride and leave. He wanted Solo's help, somehow, but at the same time he didn't want to admit what was bothering him. Before he could decide either way Solo asked him again.

"I can't stop thinking about him," he grumbled again, a little louder but he still refused to look the older devil in the eye. Solo didn't say anything so he continued. "I've been trying, really I have, but it seems like no matter what I do I end up thinking about him. I even kissed him, you know? It just goes to show how much I deserve this place that I'd force myself on him without his consent. But I keep thinking about it and I feel wretched… and at the same time I want more. I can't get him out of my head."

He trailed off and sank down to his knees on the floor, sat back on his heels and lay his head on Solo's thigh with a slight sigh.

"Is this my real punishment?" he wondered miserably "To be tortured with wanting something I can never have?"

"Oh Kid…" Solo murmured, but could think of nothing to say to comfort his friend. It was just as well, Duo wasn't likely to believe empty optimism anyway. He settled for laying his hand on the thick auburn mass and stroking it gently. Duo sighed again and relaxed against Solo's leg, a little more content with the familiar petting.

For now the comforting caress was enough for Duo. Being with someone else – not being alone with his thoughts – was enough. He didn't feel quite as miserable with Solo around. Sometimes Duo wished that he was the type to cry, if only for the emotional release and exhaustion it would provide. If he were capable of it, Duo would sleep away a century just to try to forget the angel. But he had to work, and he both hoped and feared that he would face off against Heero again in the future.

"You know that you're going to have to get over him, right Kid?" Solo said carefully after several minutes had passed. Duo nodded glumly against his leg. "What was so great about him anyway?"

"I dunno," Duo answered honestly with a small, sad smile. "Something."

He couldn't deny that he found Heero exceptionally attractive, that he had ever since he'd first seen him the night before the Trial began. But it wasn't just that. Duo had met and even had flings with many beautiful people, and in comparison the Angel wasn't even his usual type. He wasn't usually drawn to the rough and rigid types, except for Heero. There was their personalities, too. They totally clashed with each other and seemed to infuriate each other as often as not. Heero was in so many ways a complete opposite and they shared virtually nothing in common. Yet he felt drawn to the angel in a way he'd never experienced before.

"Do you love him, then?"

"No," he breathed out the answer quietly with another small shake of his head. The hand petting him paused in its motions for a moment in surprise before resuming. It was true, though. Duo was absolutely sure that he wasn't in love with Heero. He really didn't know enough about the quiet angel to love him. The feelings he had were strong, but they weren't love. There was no groundwork between them for that much. It was pure, instinctual attraction. Chemistry.

"Then why?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it. It'd be so much easier if I could. All I know is that I want him. More than anyone I've ever met, I want him."

"And you can't have him," Solo finished, "Because he's an Angel."

Duo nodded again and nuzzled himself a little closer, seeking more comfort. "Make it stop, Solo. I don't want this. I don't want it. Please? Tell me how I can forget."

Solo said nothing. There was nothing he could say. Instead he sighed and gently lifted Duo's head from his lap. He crawled back into his tomb and coaxed the younger devil to crawl in with him. Duo settled so that he was half lying on his friend's body, cheek resting against his shoulder and legs intertwined. Both had their wings tightly furled in order to fit comfortably. Once settled, Duo let himself slip off into sleep, the consistent caresses on his braid never wavering even until he finally dropped off.


	22. Heero: im possible

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: My love of cosplay is probably too distracting. I spent the last couple months grinding stuff out for Fanime a few weeks back and everything else just slipped my mind. Now that that's over – hurrah – my computer died and I had no access to my files. Now it's finally fixed and I'm nearly bed-ridden with a severe cold. Not much I can do so at least I can try to work on things a bit… during the bouts of consciousness when I'm not totally passed out. My immune system sucks, third time I've been sick in 6 months /rantrant. Short, but I'll try to be better about updating. We'll see what life throws at me next. Enjoy.

**Apocryphal Reality: impossible**

It was strange, but Heero didn't really like libraries. He liked reading and he liked silence, but somehow the combination of reading and silence in addition to a mass of people made him distinctly uncomfortable. Heero would personally prefer to read in silence _alone_. So it was that he found himself leaning against one of the many huge marble pillars of Heaven's Central Library, waiting impatiently for the pair of fledglings to finish looking for whatever it was they had come to find.

He wasn't sulking. Heero Yuy didn't sulk, and he didn't brood either. It was just that he was markedly displeased and didn't care who knew it. He didn't want to be there. Every time he was dragged out onto excursions like these the taste of his defeat became a little bit more bitter. Knowing that he had a few more weeks of this to look forward to just made him that much more irritated.

"So what's wrong with you today?" Wufei asked, coming up and adopting a similar stance beside him against the pillar. It was said with a sigh and Heero got the feeling that he was annoying his friend lately with his moods.

"Nothing."

Wufei snorted disdainfully; it wasn't true and they both knew it, but the Chinese angel was never one to push a subject. A fleeting, childish part of Heero almost wished he would. But it wouldn't help. He couldn't honestly explain what it was exactly that was bothering him so much. It wasn't just the library, as much as he disliked them he could tolerate them with relative ease, but more the little blonde fledgling that had forced him there in the first place. There was something… disconcerting about Quatre. Being around him frequently made Heero feel abnormal. Not in the way that he was different from normal people, but in a more insular way. He made Heero feel like he wasn't himself. That wasn't quite right either… more like Heero as he was wasn't the Heero that he should be. It was hard to explain, and honestly he didn't want to think about it too deeply.

"Why are we even here?" he grumbled out, glaring in the vague direction of where he had last seen the fledgling. The kid hadn't even really been dead long enough to find a reason to come to the library, had he? What could he possibly need to look for?

"They're looking at Trial records," Wufei stated simply. Having not expected an answer, Heero was surprised to get one and turned to look at his companion. The other angel read his look and continued with the silent prompting. "Apparently Quatre wants to look up the cases of people that he knows that have died before him, and Meiran thought it was a good idea and is looking up her relations as well."

Heero grunted and returned to his previous position, but there was something odd about the story that nagged at the back of his mind. It sounded reasonable enough that they'd want to know, and for some reason the library allowed open access to all case records. The wing that held them was the size of a small city alone, and had a massive staff that took care of and tracked the records. It was almost sad how many Librarians ended up in Heaven, simply because they rarely took the time to go out into the world and commit any sins. Most of them died from illness and old age, so it was generally a mass of elderly angels with inborn book fetishes that watched over the library.

The pair of angels continued to stand by that pillar for some time longer – one as restless as the other was serene – before the fledglings made their appearance once more. Quatre wore a look of cold fury and behind him Meiran looked worried. Heero's trepidation grew with each step closer that the blonde angel came and he was approaching downright _worry_ by the time they were within hearing distance. But Quatre didn't yell or say anything at all, only continued to walk briskly forward with a folder clutched in one hand.

A record?

But whose?

With a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Heero knew what it had to be. He prayed desperately that he was wrong, but had no real hope that he would be, at the same time he berated himself for a fool for not realizing it sooner. What else would Quatre be looking for, after all? The same damn thing he'd been bitching and moaning about since he died.

"Trowa passed!" the fledgling snapped, coming to an abrupt stop in front of Heero and bringing up the folder between them. "Why is he in Hell if he passed? What's the point of these tests if you can fail even by passing? What's the meaning of this, huh Heero?"

"I don't know," the elder angel bit out through gritted teeth, surreptitiously looking around at the murmuring crowd that was now staring at them.

"How can you not know? You administer these tests, don't you? So explain to me why he's _not here_!"

"I don't know!" Heero snapped back, "Do I look like a Devil to you, to know how their side of things work? I've never had anyone pass my Trials before you!"

"A person can still fail," Wufei interjected suddenly, before Quatre could start in again, "for any number of circumstances, even after passing their Trial. Most common is the inability to let go of their previous life. If a soul does not come willingly to Heaven after death, then they subject themselves instead to eternity in Purgatory or Hell, having given up their chance at Heaven."

The arguing pair just stared, dumbfounded, for a moment.

"Why?" Quatre asked, at the same time Heero wondered "How do you know that?"

Wufei turned to Heero first and gave him a wry, ageless smile. "I've been around a very long time, Yuy." Heero averted his eyes and hoped his flush didn't show. He often forgot just how old Wufei was. A prince in the Qin Dynasty, Wufei had lived and died many hundreds of years before Heero was even born. The Chinese angel turned his attention back to Quatre, "We do not make the rules, child, we only perform the tasks to which we are assigned. We cannot countermand the orders of God when deciding the fate of a soul."

"It's not fair," Quatre said back, angrily, defiantly.

"It is not for us to decide," Heero told him, the words rolling off his tongue with such practiced ease that he needn't even think about it. It was something he had been told for as long as he could remember. _Don't think, just do. It is not for us to decide what will happen, only to obey._

"What is the point in having a mind if you do not exercise it?"

Heero had no answer, so instead he growled at the blonde that he was making a scene and accumulating an audience. It was a vain hope that the fledgling would back down and drop all the nonsense, but instead Quatre glared around the room and suddenly reached out to grab Heero's wrist. Quatre wasn't making much of a mental effort to control his Empathy, so the direct contact with Heero caused a flood of rage to crash against his mind. Rage and something else. Despair. So disorienting was the sensation that he couldn't even manage to protect himself from the sudden Shift that gathered him up and whisked him away from the library.

For the short instant during the Shift, he wanted to scream. But he had no voice in that place between places, so he came out of it staggering and panting, dazed and still feeling phantom echoes of the emotional onslaught. When his eyes refocused, Heero caught sight of Quatre a short distance away, looking weary. He glared murderously at the blonde, "Don't ever do that to me again."

"Sorry," Quatre muttered as he sank into a chair with a sigh, but the apology sounded half-hearted at best. "Look, Heero… just help me do this one thing and I promise I'll stop bothering you. I'll never even speak to you again, if you want."

Curiosity piqued by the promise of freedom from the fledgling, Heero straightened against the wall he had collapsed against and eyed the blonde warily, "What one thing?"

"I want to see Trowa again."

"Impossible."

"Make it possible."

"What part of 'impossible' do you not understand, boy? It can't be done!" Heero scowled and tried to overcome the rapidly mounting frustration. It was tempting to just leave, but part of him hoped that he could maybe finally get through the brat's thick head that it wasn't going to happen. Maybe then he'd give up and give Heero peace.

"The negative prefix," Quatre answered coolly. "I'm not backing down on this," he added after a moment, as if reading Heero's thoughts.

"You don't know what you're asking. I've told you before, Angels cannot go to Hell, nor can Devils or Demons come to Heaven. There is a strict barrier that we _cannot_ cross. Not and still be able to return. You would have to Fall," he paused to glare at the blonde again, daring him to have any ideas, "I will not Fall for you."

"I need to see him, Heero." Now Quatre's voice was quiet, subdued. Weary and saddened. "I need to speak to him properly as myself, just one more time. Please."

"It cannot be done."

With that, Heero Shifted away, back to his own home. He collapsed onto his bed and curled his wings tightly around himself. There was, maybe, one other way… But Heero avoided that thought and refused to admit it to the fledgling. It was too risky, with such a slim chance of success, and such a high chance of getting caught. _It's not worth the risk. Nothing is worth the risk._

So why did he feel so _guilty_?

* * *

**konpeitou:** Review? Or don't xD It'd be nice to know people still read, though. Reviews make the very best medicine n.n


	23. Duo: Ancient Advice

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: ohemgee a quick update! The things you can do when you're sick, huh? I think this is maybe, finally, getting close to done. Probably six chapters left, give or take? Rough estimate. And now I go back to bed because I finished it just as the fever started to come back. I hope it even makes sense o.o;

**Apocryphal Reality: Ancient Advice**

Duo was attempting valiantly not to fidget. At the very least, it kept his concentration off of other things, such as his surroundings.

He was sitting in an opulent red velvet chair that was so large that even with his wings it felt like an overlarge throne to sit in. He was sitting in a relatively out-of-the-way corner, trying not to gain any attention, but that unfortunately gave him a rather broad view of the rest of the domicile. The entire mansion was luxurious and decked out with the most lavish of furniture. Everything was upholstered in silk or velvet, from the simplest pillow to the most exquisite fainting couch. Heavy curtains from ceiling to floor blocked the nonexistent light of the outside, leaving the place lit only by lamps and candles, especially fragranced to enhance certain… reactions. A variety of Demons and Devils filled the place, dressed in equally rich clothing – though, to be honest, Duo really wasn't sure that all of it really could be called _clothing_ – and seeming as comfortable in the place as Duo wasn't.

"Drink?" a familiar voice asked from beside him, the question accompanied by the appearance of a crystal goblet in front of his face. Duo took the glass but eyed the liquid warily. "It's safe. Well, relatively anyway. I checked."

Duo nodded and took a small sip, then let it sit in his hand as he watched Trowa sink gracefully into a similar chair beside him. He trusted the other devil's assurances, though _relatively _had been the key word. It was generally common practice to spike the wine with aphrodisiacs… among other things. The braided devil resisted the urge to curse Solo for dragging him down into the second layer to a bordello.

"So why exactly am I here?" Trowa asked as the silence stretched between them.

"Misery loves company," he answered. Duo took another small sip of the wine for boredom's sake as well as to avoid seeing the younger devil try to hide his annoyance.

"I see. And why are you here, then?"

"Because," Duo sighed, leaned further back into the plush chair and scowling ever so slightly at the room in general, "Solo seems to think it would help take my mind off… other things." Silence stretched. A demon somewhere wailed, whether in pleasure or pain was unknown.

"Is it working?"

"No."

They fell into a companionable silence after that, for there wasn't much else that Trowa could think to say, so they simply sipped their drinks cautiously and enjoyed each other's company in an uncomfortable environment. But after a while a succubus spotted them in their lonely corner and saw fit to rectify the situation. Duo saw her coming and swore under his breath. Before Trowa could ask what was wrong, Duo rose from his chair, pivoted gracefully on one foot so that he was facing the other devil, then settled himself so that he straddled Trowa's hips.

"Succubus. Help." Duo whispered the words quickly against the slim neck before his friend could protest. He arched his back and rolled his shoulders, trying to give the impression of pleasure, of already being occupied. Trowa nodded slightly and slipped his arms around Duo's back, pulling him tightly against himself as he leaned his head back. Duo was surprised by the action, but went with it, hovering just above his friend's exposed neck and letting his wings open and quiver. That they shook more from nervousness than excitement didn't matter; to the outside observer it would seem that he was pleased.

The succubus stopped in her path, tilting her head slightly in confusion. Trowa kept up a whispered summary of what was going on since Duo couldn't see, and when his hopes rose that she would lose interest and go away they were then crushed to realize that the succubus seemed more interested now in coming over to watch their display. Trowa was tense beneath his act, which made Duo feel guilty and at the same time angry at Solo for the whole stupid idea.

Luckily some other scantily clad male demon crossed her path and, judging him to be a little more open to her suggestions, changed path to follow that one instead. The pair sighed and relaxed at her exit. Since Trowa's arms loosened but didn't completely let go of him, Duo didn't bother to completely disengage himself. Instead he twisted around, nudged his friend over a little, and settled beside him. The chair was big enough for the both of them after all – though now he had to wonder if it was by design – though he lounged at such an angle that his legs lay over Trowa's and hung off the armrest.

It was a little while later when Solo spotted them and made his way over, accompanied by a demon and another devil. He settled himself in Duo's vacated chair while the other pair settled on the fainting couch across from them.

"Treize, Zechs," Duo greeted the pair simply, familiar with the ancient aristocratic devil and his incubus companion. Treize lay back on the couch languidly with his broad wings spread, though when the incubus with the long blonde hair settled over him he draped one of his wings over them both. It covered Zechs' back enough to hide his own smaller pair of wings, though not the dexterous spaded tail or the telltale horns nestled in all the golden hair. They waved a courteous greeting back but were otherwise too occupied with each other to mind Duo much. "Solo," he greeted last, turning to his older friend.

"Having fun yet, Kid?" Solo asked, taking a healthy swig of his own wine – which Duo highly doubted was as safe as his own.

"If I say no, will you let me leave?" Duo asked back. Solo tossed his head back and laughed, but seeing his friend's far-from-pleased expression cut him short.

"Look Kid," he began, setting his goblet of wine aside and pulling his legs up in the chair as he turned so that he was kneeling sideways in it, facing the other two. "Why do you just give it a chance and try to relax? You're on vacation. Look around a little, maybe you'll see someone that looks like him, hey?"

"I don't want someone _like_ him!" Duo snapped suddenly and it was only Trowa's arm still around him that kept him from launching to his feet. Though still tense and angry, his voice dropped to a hiss "I only want _him._"

"Kid…"

"Solo!" he interrupted before the older devil could begin again, and just as suddenly as it appeared the anger dropped out of him and he sagged against Trowa again, who for his part was rubbing soothing circles on his skin. "Look, you can't fix it so just stop trying, all right? I'll get over it myself in time, and I've got nothing but eternity ahead of me anyway. So just drop it. Thanks for your concern, but no thanks."

"I'm sorry…" Solo began awkwardly, looking sad and apologetic, "I just… don't want to see you pining away after someone you can't have."

"Oh? Did I hear something about pining?" Treize asked suddenly, breaking his way into the conversation. The other three turned to look at him, though he was still reclined with a very happy incubus squirming beneath his wing. Duo tried not to pay attention to Zechs at all, especially not to what he was doing with his tail winding up Treize's leg.

"Duo's in love with an angel," Solo told the ancient devil simply. Duo glared at him.

"I am _not_ in love!"

"Lust, then," he corrected himself, rolling his eyes at his younger friend's petulance. Trowa wisely kept quiet, as he found was usually the best thing for him to do. "But since he'll probably never see him again, it's a rather useless object for him to be infatuated with. Been trying to break him of the obsession."

"Is that so? And why is it that you'll never see him again?" Treize asked, though he looked disturbingly amused by it all. The other three stared at him.

"Uhh, trick question?" Duo asked finally, confused enough to forget his anger. "Angel… devil… they kinda don't go hand in hand."

"Naturally, it is the way of things that they are There and we are Here. But that doesn't mean the paths cannot cross on occasion. There are ways, if you know where to look. And if you're careful you might not even get caught."

Duo could see his two friends sharing a worried glance but he didn't care. Treize had his attention now, dangling this tidbit of hope in front of him. He had to grasp it, to try anything he could. He wouldn't be satisfied unless he tried his best. "How?" he asked breathlessly, leaning forward in the chair with his fingers gripping the armrest so tightly that he could feel them turning white.

"Oh it's simple really," Treize said, smirking and trailing a long elegant finger over one of Zechs' curved horns. The blonde smiled and turned to nip gently at the hand. "All you need is a friend on the other side. And for the other party to be willing, of course."

Duo waited for him to continue, to tell him how it was possible to contact beings in Heaven. To tell him how they could meet, where and when. Anything! But when nothing was forthcoming his bit his lip and asked "How do I do it?"

Treize smiled again and turned his half-lidded eyes fully on Duo. "Well now, that depends little devil. What kind of entertainment can you give me for this information?"

Duo winced and looked sideways at Solo, but his friend was wearing a grimace of his own and shrugged helplessly. Naturally when you were around for as long as being like Treize was, there wasn't much in life that was still stimulating. A devil like Treize was always looking for new entertainments. Even Solo, who knew Treize better, had no suggestions, so with a sigh Duo settled down to negotiate for information.


	24. Heero: Risky Solution

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die

Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: I'm not even going to bother trying to explain all the reasons I've been so late x.x; Sorry that it is, and I'm trying to get this finished up soonish before life takes another huge bite out of my free time.

**Apocryphal Reality: Risky Solution**

Heero sat, half reclined on a large white cushion, glaring darkly at his longtime friend and wondering if, quite frankly, the other angel was mad. "Excuse me?" he muttered after a moment, not entirely sure he had heard the previous words correctly.

"I said 'there is a way', Yuy."

Okay, so he had heard it right.

"Surely you jest, Chang."

"Most assuredly," the Chinese angel agreed without a hint of irony "But about this I do not. You ask for a solution to the impossible and I assure you there is one."

"How?" Heero asked, frowning. It didn't make any sense and he suddenly found that he was curious despite himself at the idea. "How can an Angel go to Hell and still make it back?"

"Ah, that's not exactly what I said," Wufei chided. He reached out to a small, low-set table between them and poured them both another cup of tea from a small porcelain pot. Sitting back again against his own cushion and taking a slow sip of the hot drink, Wufei regarded his guest over the cup's rim. "To be precise, Heero, you came here about the problem you have with your Fledgling. He wants to see a devil and you believe it cannot be done. I tell you that it can. I never said that you had to go to Hell to do it."

"All right," Heero conceded grudgingly, mildly irked by the gentle scolding, but overall just feeling frustrated by the whole recent ordeal. He'd come over to Wufei's for a respite and hoping for some advice on his Fledgling's absurd idea of visiting his devil friend. He hadn't expected an answer that would cater to the boy's wishes over his own – which was to stay as far from Hell as possible for eternity. Still, he asked and now he had to follow through, whether he liked the answers he was getting or not. "How then is it possible to meet a devil without Falling?"

"You have to meet in the places in-between."

Heero continued to stare, waiting for some further explanation of the cryptic statement, but Wufei just drank his tea and calmly refused to oblige. When the silence dragged too long, the frustrated angel grit his teeth and asked the question that begged asking. "Where are the places in-between?" Then, as he thought about it, he hazarded a guess. "Earth?" Silence. "Purgatory?"

"Now you're thinking, Yuy." Wufei commended him.

"But… but _how?_" Heero asked, almost whined, because he still couldn't seem to understand and the inability to grasp what his friend was leading to made him feel slow and frustrated. What was he missing about all this? It didn't make sense. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that they will miraculously manage to be in the same place just because we wish them so." Wufei's eyes narrowed with a glimmer of mischief and Heero had the sinking realization of what his last statement implied. No, he had not meant to include himself in that wish. He had no desire to see the devil, it was a mere slip of the tongue. But he could not correct himself and so deliberately ignored the knowing look his friend was giving him.

"Indeed, miracles do not usually go along with Fallen ones. That is why you need a contact – an acquaintance, if you will – in Hell to pass the message along. Then they will know to show."

Heero leaned back into the cushions again with an exasperated sigh, "So it's impossible after all. I have no such acquaintances."

"Ah, but I do."

Blue eyes snapped back to his friend's face in naked surprise, mouth opening but unable to push any words out into the sudden silence. What? Who? How? Who did Wufei know? How did he meet this being? How did he keep contact? How did he keep from getting caught? Was it even against the rules? It must be.. so how did he do it? Why did he do it? The questions and more raced through his mind, too fast to stop and pick one to verbalize, swimming around and chasing one after another until he couldn't even think. But the thoughts must have shown on his face, a rare occurrence for the normally stoic angel, because Wufei soon shook his head and clucked his tongue chidingly.

"You seem to forget, Yuy, I have been around a very long time. Don't worry about the why's and how's of it, just be assured that it can be done if you choose."

Heero grunted an acknowledgement and settled down again, still a little overwhelmed by the cryptic information and no little chagrined at his friend's ability to read him so easily. He didn't like losing control of himself like that, even in front of someone he trusted.

"So, would you like me to arrange it then?" Wufei asked eventually, after Heero had regained his composure.

Heero nodded, "Might as well, at least then the brat can go off to his reunion and leave me alone." It was a relief, actually, to know that there actually was a solution to get rid of his current Fledgling problem. And if the kid got caught, so what? He was digging his own grave with this absurd insistence to visit his devil friend. It had nothing to do with Heero and he was fine with it that way. And if not, Quatre had promised to leave him alone.. it was a win-win situation as far as he could tell.

"Ah, I think you misunderstand me Heero," Wufei murmured gently, his tone carrying an odd quality to it that Heero wasn't used to hearing; it was almost foreboding and even a little apologetic. "You both have to go."

The quiet angel felt as though the proverbial heart skipped a beat to hear those words. "_What?!_" As quickly as he'd regained control of himself, he felt emotions struggling up within him again. He was suddenly distressed, feeling so many conflicting things at once. Confusion over why he must go; Fear that he would get caught and his wings Clipped; Excitement to do something forbidden; Anticipation for what he might see; Guilt that it was perhaps more a _whom_ than a _what_ that he might be wanting to see; Denial that he had any interest at all in going.

He hoped, belatedly, that Wufei wouldn't be able to read him so well this time, but given the pensive look on the face of the Chinese angel, the hope was slim at best.

"It's the only way, Heero," Wufei stated, taking the blurted out question at face value, "None but those who work Trials have the ability to Shift outside of Heaven. Quatre will need a guide to lead him out where you will meet."

"Then why can't you take him?" Heero blurted out, flustered and very much not wanting to go, "They will be your contacts, after all."

Wufei cocked an eyebrow and bestowed on him a look that Heero had no trouble reading as _This is your problem_ without the words needing to be said. He ignored the question and continued coolly, "That is the condition for my help. If you want me to do this for you, you must accompany the boy to the rendezvous. It is non-negotiable."

The younger angel's breath hissed out through his clenched teeth as he exhaled in frustration. He was so close to being free of the Fledgling only to have his hopes crushed. "Why _me?_" he asked bitterly.

"Because I think you need to do this as well," his friend answered dryly. "Tell me," he continued before Heero could protest, "Have you thought of him?"

"What? No, of course not! What reason would I possibly have to think of his devil friend?"

"Not him. The other one."

He opened his mouth to reiterate the denial but found himself unable to speak the works. His jaw worked uselessly for a moment before he snapped it shut and turned his gaze away to glare at the floor rather than the penetrating onyx eyes of his comrade. He wanted to deny it, to say that he had no thoughts of his prior opponent now that the Trial was over. Until that moment, he'd even convinced himself that it was true. But the words called the devil's image to his mind as though summoned. Heero remembered the variety of emotions shown in the expressive eyes, the childish delight when he'd bounced around with the trailing whip of hair dancing around him, the righteous anger that made him mantle like a beast, the shy look up through long lashes when he'd move closer, the pained look when he'd stolen that kiss…

"It means nothing," he stated instead, trying to make himself believe it as well.

"Have you dreamt of him?"

Heero felt himself flush and kept his gaze averted in an attempt to hide the absurd reaction. "What kind of question is that?" he demanded gruffly.

"A valid one, I think. One that you are evading."

The irritated scowl deepened but still Heero did not answer. He wanted to assert that he hadn't and be done with it, but he couldn't in good conscience lie; it was unbefitting on an Angel. What he really wanted was for it to be the truth, though. Heero wished, emphatically, that he had never had such dreams of his opponent. What did it matter, anyway? It wasn't the first time he'd had dreams of others, nor did he expect it to be the last in his afterlife. That the subject matter of these dreams were significantly different than any others was besides the point. Heero surely thought nothing of them, so why should Wufei have such an interest?

"I will leave you to your secrets, Heero," the elder angel said finally with a small sigh that could have been from impatience or disappointment, "But I want you to seriously think about what I have asked you, and why. I believe you, as well, have some unresolved business to attend to concerning a certain resident of Hell. When you have come to a decision, you know where to find me."

Heero nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and took the offered exit gladly to Shift back to his own abode. Unsteady, he collapsed to sit on the floor exactly where he landed in the middle of the room, not even bothering to move to a chair. Think about it? Sad, mournful cobalt eyes flashed in his mind. No, he didn't want to think about it at all.

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konpeitou: Review? ;o;


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